Govt Introduces Fact Check Unit Under IT Rules

The central government on Wednesday has notified the setting up of a fact checking unit (FCU) under the Press Information Bureau of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting under the recently amended Information Technology Rules.

It is understood that the unit has been created to monitor content on social media.

“In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-clause (v) of clause (b) of sub-rule (1) of rule 3 of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, the Central Government hereby notifies the Fact Check Unit under the Press Information Bureau of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting as the fact check unit of the Central Government for the purposes of the said sub-clause, in respect of any business of the Central Government,” reads the statement from the government.

Under the new rules, if the fact check unit comes across or is informed about any posts that are 'fake', 'false' or contain 'misleading' facts pertaining to the business of the government, it would flag it to the social media intermediaries.

The online intermediaries would then have to take down such content if they wanted to retain their "safe harbour" (legal immunity against third-party content).

The fact check unit under PIB was established in November 2019 with the stated objective of acting as a deterrent to creators and disseminators of fake news and misinformation.