RSF urges US Congress to challenge India’s internet censorship amendment during Prime Minister Modi’s visit
RSF urges US Congress to question India’s online censorship amendment during PM Modi’s visit, which enables government control over disliked information and the establishment of a fact-checking unit.
The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, is due to visit Washington DC on 22 June to address a joint session of the US Congress. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) urging members of the US Congress to question India’s newly implemented amendment giving the Government the power to censor online information that it does not approve.
Essentially, the amendment allows the government to order internet access providers and ‘social media intermediaries’ like Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and YouTube to remove any content that it deems to contain ‘false, incorrect or misleading’ information about ‘any business of the central government’. In addition, there is the creation of a central government fact-checking unit with arbitrary powers to block or suppress any information it deems to be ‘false’.
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