PIB’s Fact Check Unit

About PIB’s Fact Check Unit

• It was established in November 2019.
• It was started with an objective of acting as a deterrent to creators and disseminators of fake news and misinformation. 
• It also provides people with an easy avenue to report suspicious and questionable information pertaining to the Government of India.
• It is mandated to counter misinformation on Government policies, initiatives and schemes either suo motu or under a reference via complaints.
• The FCU actively monitors, detects, and counters disinformation campaigns, ensuring that false information about the Government is promptly exposed and corrected.
• Organisation
  • It is headed by a senior DG/ADG level officer of the Indian Information Service (IIS). The day-to-day operations of the Unit are handled by IIS officers at various levels.
  • The Unit reports to the Principal Director General, PIB who functions as the Principal Spokesperson of the Government of India.
• Fact-Check Mechanism
  • Users send requests over WhatsApp, email or a web portal. Each such request received is considered as a ‘Query’. Queries are segregated by the Unit based on their relevance to matters pertaining to Government of India.
  • Only queries pertaining to Government of India are considered and taken up as Actionable Queries, while others are deemed not relevant for action.

Q1) What is the Press Information Bureau (PIB)?

It is the nodal agency of the Government of India to disseminate information to the print and electronic media on government policies, programmes, initiatives and achievements. It functions as an interface between the Government and the media and also serves to provide feedback to the Government on people’s reaction as reflected in the media.

Source: IT Ministry notifies contentious fact check unit to dispute government misinformation