New Delhi: The Union government has promised in an affidavit given to the Bombay high court that it will not constitute a ‘fact-check unit’ under the new and controversial Information Technology Rules, 2023 till July 5. It notified the new rules amidst a lot of opposition from media bodies, on April 6. This controversial new unit potentially has the power to compel platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and effectively all digital media to remove posts relating to anything said about the Union government.Under it, is has become obligatory for “intermediaries” – including social media companies – to “not publish, share or host fake, false or misleading information in respect of any business of the Central government”.The fact-checking unit of the government can now identify what is “fake, false or misleading information”.The undertaking was in response to a challenge by comedian and satirist Kunal Kamra, who challenged the rules for being restrictive on the right to free speech, and sought the rules to be struck down.The Bombay high court had directed the Union government to state why the new Rules should not be stayed and describe the factual background that necessitated the amendments in the first place.Additional solicitor general Anil Singh, appearing for the Ministry of Electronics and Technology (Meity), told a division bench of Justice Gautam Patel and Justice Neela Gokhale, reports The Hindustan Times, that the Union government “was willing to make a statement that a notification would not be issued till the next date of hearing.”Senior advocate Darius Khambata, representing Kamra, also asked for a statement from the Union government, that the amended IT rules would not be implemented until a notification on the FCU was issued, but the bench did not agree to ask for this. The newspaper reports that the Bombay high court bench has also directed the ministry to submit a list of judgements of the Supreme Court and high courts pertaining to the IT rules and the powers of the legislature to implement them, by June 6. The court also asked the Union government to file an affidavit in response to the petition on June 8, which is when the matter is set to be heard next. The previous iteration of the IT Rules had also been challenged – by several media organisations, including The Wire. The Bombay high court had stayed the provision of those sections directly applicable to digital news sites.