No more fake news! PIB preps fact-checking unit to curb fake information on social media
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New Delhi, Jul. 3: Information and communication are the most important aspects of today’s global world. But with the spread of social media, the dissemination of fake information increased.
To curb this fake information and limiting fake news, Press Information Bureau (PIB) has decided to constitute fact-checking unit to identify and counter wrong information about the government and its policies circulating on social media platforms.
As per the official statement of MIB under which PIB works, it was approved to counter fake news in real-time. No deadline has been set so far for the project to take off, but it is expected to pick pace over the coming weeks. Any further specific details are unavailable yet.
As per the statement, The fact check unit will have officials from the PIB as well as employees hired on contract to monitor platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube to flag news that is fake and has the potential for creating social unrest.
The official statement also added, “Unit will monitor and detect anything related to the government that is blatantly wrong and put out correct information to ensure that people do not fall for wrong news. It also added, pib is also thinking about a training session with a Hyderabad-based organization, which does work, in fact, checking and putting out data that is meant for the public. Their experts helped to brainstorm on how to proceed with it.
Countering fake news is top in the government’s plan. In 2016, the MIB suggested expanding its analytics wing to monitor social media and set up an early warning system for possible flashpoints that the government may be unprepared for.
The social media analytics wing of the ministry, which is now non-existent, scrutinized posts on social media platforms to generate reports for the Prime Minister’s Office, the National Security Advisor’ s Office and various intelligence bureaus, aside from ministries including home affairs, external affairs, and defense.
In 2018, the ministry constituted a committee to frame rules to regulate news portals and media websites. During the recently concluded Lok Sabha election, the election commission also worked with social media platforms to identify and pull down posts that were fake and could lead to vitiating the elections.
As per EC’s data, 650 posts were taken down by Facebook for voter misinformation, hate speech, violation of the model code of conduct and public morality and decency. Similarly, Twitter took down 220 posts, Sharechat 31, Google 5 and Whatsapp, 3.