The Indian government has said that the Digital India Bill doesn’t propose to regulate fact-checkers.

“Questions do not arise,” Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar told Rajya Sabha on Friday when quizzed by a fellow parliamentarian on the issue of Digital India Bill and whether it planned to regulate fact-checkers.

The Minister also stated that “no draft on the Digital India Bill has been published for public feedback/comments”.

The Minister was asked about the difference between the Digital India Bill and Data Protection Bill along with the salient features of both the bills and, specifically whether it was a fact that the government intended to regulate fact-checkers through the Digital India Bill.

Elaborating on the two proposed legislation, Chandrasekhar said the policies of the government were aimed at ensuring an Open, Safe and Trusted and Accountable Internet for its users.

To help achieve this aim, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) engages with and receives inputs from the public and stakeholders, including in respect of changes required to existing legislation and the need to introduce fresh legislation, he said.

Once the legislative proposal is formulated, in accordance with the government’s policy on pre-legislative consultation, proposed legislation is published in the public domain and feedback/comments invited from the public before introduction to relevant House of Parliament, the Minister added.