The unit is expected to have a monitoring team and analysis team, and it will work closely with the Home Department.
Fake news. (Creative Commons)
A cybersecurity policy, which includes a dedicated Fact-Checking Unit (FCU), will be implemented in Karnataka after getting the Cabinet’s approval.
Rampant and unabated peddling of fake news, often even by media houses, prompted the government to implement the policy. The circulation of fake news, at times with undesirable consequences, had even made the ruling Congress convene its legislative party meeting in the last week of July.
A fake letter, claiming to be by Aland MLA BR Patil, accusing ministers of seeking money, prompted the Congress to convene the meeting to nip dissent in the bud. The letter, which went viral on social media, gave the Opposition BJP enough ammunition to target the ruling party.
In another instance, a letter to the Raj Bhavan, accusing Agriculture Minister N Chaluvarayaswamy of seeking bribes from Assistant Agriculture Directors (AADs) in Mandya, too, grabbed headlines.
The letter claimed it was from seven AADs, which later turned out to be fake. On receiving the letter, Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot directed Chief Secretary Vandita Sharma to probe the allegations.
On Sunday, 20 August, the state Crime Investigation Department arrested two government officials, including an assistant director of the Agriculture Department, from KR Nagara for posting the fake letter.
The next day, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah convened a meeting at ‘Krishna’, his home office. The meeting discussed measures to check fake news that has become a threat to democracy by polarising society. The decision to implement the cybersecurity policy was made at the meeting.
“The unit will check for facts and any misinformation or disinformation spread with malicious intent will be reported to the Home Department. The Home Department will, in turn, decide on the further course of action,” IT and BT Minister Priyank Kharge told South First.
The state had had a policy when the Congress was in power earlier. Kharge, who had held the same portfolio, had implemented the policy for five years. However, the succeeding BJP government did not renew the policy and it lapsed in 2022.
Now, the IT Department will re-implement the policy, taking into account the updated and advanced technological innovations, an official in the department told South First.
The FCU, to be set up as a dedicated institution, will monitor social media content to ensure they are authentic and genuine. The unit will have two arms — the monitoring and analysing teams. The monitoring team will identify content that could cause mischief and trouble.
The facts of such content will be verified and, if found false, it will be debunked, and the truth published on its website. Further, this will be reported to the Home Department along with details of the source of the content such as their IP address, and the department will take legal action whenever necessary.
The FCU website will be created in collaboration with the IT Department and the entire operation will be handed over to the Home Department.
Besides setting up the FCU, there will also be a portal allowing citizens to flag fake news.
Additionally, a committee comprising legal experts, nodal officers, citizens, and representatives of NGOs and civil rights groups will also be constituted. The panel will decide if any content has to be subjected to legal action, the official told South First.
Artificial Intelligence (AI), too, will be used to debunk fake news and identify the source of the malicious content. FCU will also identify deepfake videos created using AI.
The primary intention of the FCU will be to make social media platforms accountable for the content. The police will be involved in booking those peddling fake news under the relevant sections.
Despite having fact-checking teams, even the mainstream media often fall prey to fake news. By setting up the FCU, the government is attempting to build an institution not only to filter fake news but also to debunk them and declare them fake.
Meanwhile, the Opposition BJP appeared unhappy over the move. It accused the ruling Congress of indulging in vindictive politics using criminal laws.
“The Congress, with its present mandate, wants to defame and demoralise the BJP. This is purely political vendetta. These offences and violations for spreading fake news, are pretty much covered under the Information Technology Act and the Indian Penal Code,” BJP spokesperson Mahesh G told South First.
“Now they want a Fact-Check Unit to target BJP supporters, protesting in a democracy. Over the last 80 days since they (Congress) assumed power, more than 50 cases have been registered and 20 BJP social media workers have been booked. All these IT Act cases are bailable offences but some of them were arrested,” he said.
Let them (Congress) bring in a hundred more laws, but whether they will be passed in both Houses is a big question. The present dispensation is wrong and they are operating according to a toolkit,” he added.
May 20, 2024
May 20, 2024
![[Left] File photo of BJP MLA Harish Poonja, who has been booked, and [right] Poonja sitting for a protest in front of Belthangady Police Station in the early hours of Sunday, 19 May, 2024.](https://s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media.thesouthfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Harish-Poonja-and-Belthangady.jpg "Harish Poonja and Belthangady")
May 19, 2024
May 19, 2024
May 19, 2024
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