Old media reports shared as the recent news about the government enforcing a ban on Facebook and other social media sites in India - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
September 11, 2023
A video is being shared on social media claiming it to be the latest report of the ‘Republic Bharat’ news channel reporting about the possible ban of WhatsApp, Facebook, and other social media platforms in India. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: A recent news video of Republic TV reporting about the ban on Facebook, WhatsApp and other social media sites in India.
Fact: The video shared in the post shows an old news report published by Republic TV on 26 May 2021. In the video, the Republic TV anchor discussed the possibility of Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and other social media platforms facing bans if they fail to adhere to the new intermediary guidelines announced by the government in February 2021. Lately, the Government of India has not imposed any ban on Facebook and WhatsApp. Hence, the claim made in the post is False.
When we searched for the video using relevant keywords on the internet, we found the same video published on the Republic TV news channel on 26 May 2021. In the video, the Republic TV anchor discussed the possibility of Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and other social media platforms facing bans if they fail to adhere to the new intermediary guidelines announced by the government in February 2021.
The Government of India announced the ‘The Information Technology (Guidelines for Intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021’,  comprising of new social media regulations, in February 2021. The government set 25 May 2021 as a deadline for social media giants like Facebook, Twitter (now ‘X’) and others to adhere to the newly introduced social media regulations.
Announcing their decision to comply with the intermediary guidelines announced by the government, on 25 May 2021, Facebook spoke to the media and said– “We aim to comply with the provisions of the IT rules and continue to discuss a few of the issues which need more engagement with the government. Pursuant to the IT Rules, we are working to implement operational processes and improve efficiencies. Facebook remains committed to people’s ability to freely and safely express themselves on our platform.” Lately, the Government of India has not imposed any ban on Facebook or WhatsApp.
Earlier, when old news reports were linked to the India-China border conflict in a similar manner, Factly published a fact-check thread debunking those claims.
To sum it up, old media reports are shared as the latest news on the government planing to impose a ban on Facebook, WhatsApp, and other social media sites.