New Delhi, April 12 -- A parliamentary panel has observed that features like Community Notes, on social media platforms such as X, should be treated as a publishing activity, thus making the platform itself a publisher and not an intermediary, the head of the committee said in a social media post on Saturday. According to Bharatiya Janata Party member of Parliament (MP) Nishikant Dubey, who heads the parliamentary standing committee on communications and IT, the ministry of electronics and IT (Meity) should either direct platforms to disable community notes on platforms or consider imposing a "publisher tax" - in what has been construed as obligations similar to Australia's News Media Bargaining Code, which requires platforms to compensate news publishers. An official at Meity, who asked not to be named, said the ministry has not received a formal recommendation from the parliamentary panel. "If we receive a formal recommendation, we will examine," this official said. "Our committee, that is, the Parliament's Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology, has unanimously told @GoI_MeitY, the Government of India, that @XCorpIndia's job is community note publishing, not thatof an intermediary, so either social media platforms should shut down their community notes, otherwise, as per Australia's law, they will have to pay the publishers' tax," wrote Dubey in a post, loosely translated from Hindi. Dubey's comments come against the backdrop of raging controversy around the government's decision to amend the Information Technology Rules, 2021, which - in the proposed form - will expand the government's regulatory oversight to user-generated content, including features like community notes, when they relate to news, politics, or public policy. HT first reported on April 10, these changes could bring community notes under the ambit of the ministry of information and broadcasting, potentially allowing authorities to order the removal of notes, including those that add context to or challenge claims made by public officials. The report has since drawn responses from opposition parties. Karnataka's information technology minister and Congress leader Priyank Kharge posted on X, "Community Notes on X, which allowed users to democratically challenge misinformation, is now being quietly brought under tighter control through the new IT rules...Just weeks ago, several accounts that raised legitimate criticism against the BJP Government were quietly withheld. Why is there no similar action against those who spread vile hatred and propaganda under the patronage of the BJP IT cell." Shiv Sena (UBT) member of Parliament Priyanka Chaturvedi wrote on X, "This is an unnecessary and unreasonable encroachment through the draft IT rules proposed by @GoI_MeitY. As a balanced approach to policy and technology, we can set a better example for the world. Introducing such rules gives the impression that the country's government seeks to suppress the community's ability to expose misinformation through community notes." Digital rights advocacy group Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) has questioned both the procedural and factual basis of Dubey's claim, noting that no report of the parliamentary committee placed before the House mentions Community Notes....