India: Announced appeal in lawsuit challenging MeitY's rules pertaining to identification of fake content against the government on social media (Kunal Kamra v Union of India and Others)

On 15 March 2024, the Plaintiff moved to the Supreme Court of India seeking an interim stay on the establishment of the Fact-Check Unit (FCU) under the amended Information Technology Rules 2023, which aims to identify fake and false content on social media against the government. Previously, the Bombay High Court refused to grant a stay, stating that notifying the FCU would not cause irreparable harm. The plaintiff has emphasised that the FCU will coerce social media intermediaries into censoring content critical of the government to avoid legal liability, thus impeding free speech. The plaintiff also highlighted that an existing mechanism, the Press Information Bureau, already addresses fake news about the government.