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Journalism of Courage
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah Monday approved the formation of a fact-checking unit in the state to tackle ‘fake news syndicates’.
The decision was made during a meeting chaired by the chief minister on cyber security issues. “The CM was of the view that curbing fake news was essential as it was responsible for the weakening of democracy and polarisation in the society,” said a statement from the Chief Minister’s Office.
“The government will also pass legislations against propagating fake news. The unit will work towards detecting the syndicates that spread fake news, preventing the dissemination of such news and punishment for those behind the same. The unit will consist of a supervisory committee, fact-finding teams and analysis teams apart from other wings,” the statement said.
During the meeting, Home Minister G Parameshwara suggested strengthening the unit immediately as fake news, event in its infancy, could become a global menace.
There were suggestions to coordinate with the information technology, biotechnology department during the initial days of the formation of the unit, according to the statement.
Karnataka first proposed the unit in June this year. The Monday meeting was to take measures to formalise the fact-checking unit in the coming days.
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