PIB busted 1,100 cases of fake news in 3 years: Anurag Thakur in House

The fact-check unit of the Press Information Bureau (PIB) has busted over 1,100 cases of fake news so far, said Union Information & Broadcasting Minister Anurag Singh Thakur in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. He said the PIB has countered over 37,000 complaints since its inception.

Thakur’s statement was in response to a question on fake news by Kerala Congress MPs K Muraleedharan and Benny Behanan on whether the government has taken cognizance of the increase in fake news cases as reflected in the data published by the NCRB. The government has statutory and institutional mechanisms in place to combat fake news, the minister said, adding that appropriate action is taken by the government and the Press Council in case of violations.

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“A fact-check unit set up under the PIB in November 2019 takes cognizance of fake news relating to Centre both suo-motu and by way of queries sent by citizens and responds to queries with correct information,” Thakur said.

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