“Union Government notifies PIB’s fact check unit as its official body for online content verification”, Organiser, March 20, 2024:

“The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has formally notified the Press Information Bureau’s (PIB) Fact Check Unit (FCU) as the central government’s official fact-checking body under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.

The move, announced on Wednesday, March 20, comes amidst mounting legal challenges and concerns over its potential impact on freedom of speech and government overreach. The notification designates the Fact Check Unit under the PIB of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting as the union government’s fact-checking unit for vetting online content related to the business of the central government.

This decision follows recent legal battles surrounding the establishment of the FCU and the interpretation of Rule 3(1)(b)(v) of the IT Rules, which empowers the FCU to identify “fake or false or misleading” online content pertaining to the central government…..”

Read the full article at Organiser.org