PROBLEM OF FAKE NEWS IN INDIA: GOVERNMENT TO SET UP ‘FACT’ MODULE TO TACKLE WITH FAKE NEWS ILW LAW CRITIQUE Wed, Nov 20, 2019, at ,12:11 PM While fake news was bothering the government for quite some time, leaders failed to come up with a concrete plant to counter it. There have been many recent incidents that have forced the government to take a strong step towards curbing fake news from circulation. Union Government has decided to set up FACT-Check Module to identify incidences of fake news on social media and digital platforms and take corrective action. It will be set up under Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the government’s public relations arm. The step was taken after a piece of fake news that Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated CJI Ranjan Gogoi over Ayodhya verdict was circulated by a section of Bangladeshi Media. The government was quick to claim that this report was “malicious” and “fake’. Moreover, the incident triggered it to finally create a formal fact-checking module under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Find, Assess, Create and Target: FACT It is aimed at protecting and insulating the government and its agencies against fake news on social media and digital platforms. It will largely focus on online and digital content for now and will be later expanded to the electronic media later. It will be initially manned by information service officers, who are also mandated to create appropriate content to re-balance narrative and promote the government’s official position. They will also target content to ensure that government versions are visible and accessible to the public. It will work on the four principles of "find, assess, create and target (FACT)", which involves round-the-clock monitoring of online news sources and publicly available social media posts. It will also identify themes or stories that promote false and misleading information relating to the government and its agencies. It will also assess the scale of engagement with the risk identified and establish whether it is appropriate to respond to the content. The problem of Fake News in India The problem of fake news grew with the growth of the Internet. The Internet is an easy and quick medium to propagate a piece of news. Manipulation of algorithms of social media and search engines—to reach large audiences and mislead news consumers is a global trend now. Fake video clips, news stories with morphed media logos, bots, and paid commentators for favorable online reputation (troll farm) have become very common. Governments are using the threat of fake news to clamp down on free speech. In India WhatsApp and Facebook are most vulnerable to fake news. Popular Examples of Fake News from India which caused significant social damage: Muzzafarnagar riots of 2013: fake video fuelled communal passions UNESCO has declared ‘Jana Gana Mana’ best national anthem in the world Dawood properties worth Rs 15000 Cr seized in Dubai President Kovind makes Twitter debut; gains 3 million followers in one hour Nostradamus had predicted the rise of supreme leader Narendus Dying Woman Molested, Video shows Fatwa in Saudi Arabia; Men can eat wives when hungry GPS tracking Nano-Chip in 2000 Rupee notes (Nov 2016) Salt Shortage rumors (Nov 2016) Child kidnapping rumors lead to lynching by a mob in Jharkhand Minister using a Russian photo to show LED-electrification of streets Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) annual report used a picture of Spain-Morocco border to show Indian border floodlighting Missing JNU student Najeeb Ahmed has joined the ISIS Fact Check Websites in India* Vishvas News is a multilingual fact-checking website Fact Crescendo is a multilingual fact-checking website, they also have a presence in Sri Lanka. altnews is a fact-checking website. Boom is a fact-checking digital journalism website. SMHoaxSlayer is a broad spectrum fact-checking website with verifying social media hoaxes and scams circulating in India. Factly is one of the well-known Data Journalism/Public Information portals in India. Each news story on FACTLY is backed by factual evidence/data from official sources that are either available in the public domain or that is collated/gathered/collected using tools such as the Right to Information (RTI). Facthunt is a social journalism platform to debunk misinformation across the various domain. Users can sign up on the website/app and request for a fact check. A Pool of journalists then verifies the claim and publish an article. *Source: Wikipedia