India notifies IT rules to establish fact checker for ‘government business’ content; Startup funding continues to fall

India yesterday notified changes to its information technology rules that now require all intermediaries – such as social media platform providers and internet services providers – to rely on a government-backed fact check unit concerning any content related to “government business,” according to an official statement. Also in this brief, Q1 of calendar 2023 saw startup funding continue to fall, according to data from Tracxn. Notes: India yesterday notified changes to its information technology rules that now require all intermediaries – such as social media platform providers and internet services providers – to rely on a government-backed fact check unit for any content related to “government business,” according to an official statement. The new rules called the IT Amendment Rules, 2023, first proposed in January, now “make it obligatory on the intermediaries to not publish, share or host fake, false or misleading information in respect of any business of the Central Government,” the statement reads. Such information “will be identified by the notified Fact Check Unit of the Central Government,” according to the statement. The statement also says that “the existing IT rules already required the intermediaries to make reasonable efforts to not host, publish or share any information which is patently false and untrue or misleading in nature.” These changes have drawn criticism from human rights campaigners such as the New Delhi-based Internet Freedom Foundation. The new rules “directly and negatively impact online freedom of speech and the right to receive information,” the foundation said in a post on its website. The amendments notified yesterday also included tougher rules on online gaming, especially in regulating online betting. Rajeev Chandrasekhar, minister of state for IT said in the government statement: “Online gaming is certainly a huge opportunity for India and Young Indians. We see the Indian online gaming ecosystem expand and grow into a multi-billion-dollar industry and be an important catalyst to India’s One trillion-dollar Digital economy goal by 2025-26, with very clear restrictions on online wagering and betting.” In startup funding news, startups in India raised a total of $1.2 billion in funding in March compared with $598 million in February, according to data from the private markets intelligence provider Tracxn. There were 12 startup acquisitions last month, including Knowledge Lens and Sportido. March saw 87 funding rounds compared with 67 in February. The top funding rounds in March were Lenskart’s Series-J round, in which it raised $500 million, PhonePe’s Series D, $200 million investment and Mintifi’s Series D round in which the supply chain fintech provider raised $110 million, according to Tracxn. There were 58 Seed rounds, 19 Series A rounds, two Series B rounds, and eight Series C+ rounds. FinTech, Retail, and Enterprise Applications were the top-performing sectors in Q1 2023. There were no new unicorns created in Q1 of 2023, compared with 14 in Q1 of 2022. Q1 of 2023 also saw three companies - Robu Labs, Mars Capital, and Homesfy announce their plans to go public.