What is the news?

• Regional rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed on 10 March 2023 to restore ties
and reopen diplomatic missions in Chinese-brokered talks.
 Indus Valley Civilization
• Foreign Ministers of Iran and Saudi Arabia have met in Beijing to
discuss the details of their relations
Opening embassies
Operating direct flights
Facilitating issue of visas
Their diplomatic and consular missions had been shut for over 7
years.
Other Diplomatic Developments in Middle East:
• Saudi and Omani diplomats have been in Sanaa (capital of Yemen)
to discuss the terms of a ceasefire in Yemen.
• Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad, isolated for a decade, has been
a welcome guest in Oman and the UAE.
• Syrian Foreign Minister, Faisal Mekdad, also visited Egypt and
Saudi Arabia.
 Truce in Yemen
• Yemen is the test-case for the resilience of the Saudi-Iran accord.
• Saudi must retreat from Yemen = On 26 March 2015, Saudi Arabia,
leading a coalition of nine countries from West Asia and North
Africa, launched an intervention in the Yemeni Civil War.
• Iran must stop supplying weapons to Houthis in Yemen.
• It is unclear what role the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will play in
the peace process.
• UAE controls several Yemeni ports, the strategically important
islands of Perim, at the Bab al Mandab, and Socotra, in the Gulf of
Aden.
• UAE also supports the separatist Southern Transitional Council
based in Aden (Yemen).
 Peace Effect on Syria
• The earthquake that devastated Turkey and Syria in early February
this year encouraged diplomatic engagements with Syria.
• Soon after the earthquake, Mr. Assad received delegations from
Lebanon, Jordan and the UAE, spoke to the leaders of Bahrain and
Egypt, and visited Oman on February 20.
• The Saudi-Iran Accord brought together the two countries that had
been on opposite sides in the Syrian conflict.
• Mr. Assad visited Russia and the UAE, signalling the end of Syria’s
political isolation over 10 years.
• In Abu Dhabi, the UAE President, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al
Nahyan, welcomed Mr. Assad by saying that it was “time for Syria
to return to the Arab fold”.
• Syrian Foreign Minister Mekdad’s visit to Cairo in early April, was
the first such visit in a decade.
• Saudi Arabia is expected to invite Syria to attend the Arab League
summit in Riyadh in May, thus completing Syria’s political
rehabilitation.
 Peace in Middle East
• Saudi Arabia has become a “dialogue partner” of the Shanghai
Cooperation Organisation and wants membership of BRICS.
Saudi Arabia is Balancing Powers in Middle East
• Saudi will continue to buy weapons from the U.S., but is also
diversifying its suppliers.
• Saudi has has recently purchased Chinese technology to
manufacture its own missiles.
• Saudi Arabia and Russia remain solid partners in the “OPEC +”
conclave to manage oil production and prices.
 Iran is also Balancing Powers in Middle East
• Iran already has substantial defence, energy, economic and
logistical connectivity ties with Russia and China
• Iran has a central place in the Belt and Road Initiative.
• Iran is working with Russia to close the small gaps in the 7,200-km
International North-South Transport Corridor that links Moscow
with the western coast of India.
Either ways: China is emerging as the centre of
growing diplomatic activity in the Middle East
• On 6th April = Govt amended IT Rules, 2021 through the Information
Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code)
Amendment Rules, 2023
• The amendment gives Union Ministry of Electronics and
Information Technology (MeitY) power to create a “fact check
unit”, which will identify false or misleading online content related
to Govt.
 As per the Amendment
• Articles about the Union Govt, which are declared as Fake news by
Press Information Bureau (PIB) must be taken down by the Social
media platforms and other intermediaries on the Internet.
• The Press Information Bureau (PIB) is a nodal agency of the
Government of India under Ministry of Information and
Broadcasting.
• Union Govt faced backlash from the Opposition party.
• It also faced legal challenge = Comedian Kunal Kamra approaching the
Bombay High Court questioning its constitutional validity.
 As per the Notified Version of the Act
• Govt earlier allowed Press Information Bureau (PIB) as fact-
checking unit
• Later Govt said that PIB will not be allowed on online
intermediaries.
• The final draft has removed PIB.
• Now, Ministry of Electronics and IT will appoint a Fact Check Unit
which will take a call on whether online information related to the
Central Government is accurate.
 Fact Check Unit
The Fact Check Unit is likely to have four members —
• 1 representative from the IT Ministry
• 1 from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation
• 1 “media expert”
• 1 “legal expert”
• The Govt said Fact Check Unit will uphold the highest levels of professional
and ethical standards to ensure trustworthiness and neutrality in the
identification of potentially misleading or fake content.
• Social Media is a tool of sharing the ideas of thoughts, information
and opinions with the masses on a virtual network like Facebook,
Twitter, Instagram.
• The selfish nature means things which are there for their own
benefits and interests so social media fulfills its own interests.
 Why Govt. Needs a Fact Check Unit?
• Free flow of disinformation + vast ocean of unreviewed content.
• Hate and targeted intimidation.
• Anti-minority hate + polarised communities.
• The term ‘Kangaroo Court’ is used to refer to proceedings where a judgement
is made in an unfair & biased manner, and lacks legitimacy.
 Govt. Needs to Act
• Against anti-India fake news networks.
• Low media literacy and cultural biases have caused people to
follow anti-India fake news networks.
• Exploitation and Cheating are now common in Social Media.
• Each platform exploits humans to make a profitable venture out of
human relationships.
 Concerns of Fake New
• More than 400 million Indians now use the internet.
• India's fake news problem has continued to grow.
• Sometimes they are duped by fake job schemes or fake mobile
recharge schemes through forwarded messages they receive.
• The ecosystem of fake news and divisive propaganda works well
due to India's low literacy rates.
• WhatsApp — owned by US social media giant Facebook realized
the problem.
• In 2018, it added a feature in India that limited forwarding news to
a maximum of five chats.
 Responsible Media: Need of the Hour
• Social media platforms now is the traditional information
networks in India.
• The relationship between online content, traditional media and
political networks reaches everybody.
 Impact of Disinformation
• Organised misinformation (disinformation) has a political and/or
commercial agenda.
• India is a country with the largest youth population in the world =
disinformation builds the foundation of their thought process =
bad for future.