PIB will get the right to monitor fake news on social media, government will talk to stakeholders next month

PIB will get the right to monitor fake news on social media, government will talk to stakeholders next month

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New Delhi : Fake news circulated on social media not only creates confusion among the people, but sometimes such news also promotes crime and criminals in the country. The Fact Check of the Press Information Bureau (PIB), working under the Central Government, examines the veracity of fake news being circulated on social media and then tells that such and such news being circulated on social media is fake. Now there is talk of giving PIB the right to monitor fake news being circulated on social media. To give him authority, the government will discuss with all its stakeholders next month.

PIB will be stronger than before

According to a report in news agency Bhasha, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Tuesday said that the proposal to empower PIB, the government’s authorized information wing, to monitor fake news on social media platforms will be discussed with all stakeholders next month. Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, Chandrashekhar, when asked about the proposal to empower ‘Patra Information Bureau’ (PIB) to verify the factuality of news on social media, said that we will discuss it separately early next month .

PIB does fact check on the basis of complaints

According to the report, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology released a draft amendment to the Information Technology Rules, 2021 last week. In this, there is mention of giving the responsibility of identifying wrong, fake or misleading content on social media to PIB or any other government agency. A section of the online media has called it an attempt at government control. In the proposed amendment, social media companies have been asked to ensure that such content is not uploaded or disseminated, which has been found to be fake or incorrect by PIB Fact Check, the fact-checking arm of PIB. This unit of PIB will have to find out the truth of suspicious material on its portal on the basis of complaints sent from common people or by taking suo motu cognizance.

New rule will be notified on January 31

However, the Editors Guild of India, the apex body of editors, has expressed deep concern over this proposal in a statement. The Guild said that the determination of fake news cannot be left in the hands of the government alone, as this would result in censorship of the press. Meanwhile, Chandrasekhar said that rules for regulation of online gaming will be notified by January 31. After that it will be presented for the approval of the Parliament. With this, he said that the process of consultation regarding the Digital Personal Data Protection Act has been completed. Now it is being prepared for issuing notification.

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