Centre names Press Information Bureau as central fact-check unit

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has formally designated the Press Information Bureau's fact-check unit as the central government's official body for verifying information, as per the IT Rules of 2021. The notification outlines that the PiB unit will handle fact-checking duties concerning the central government's affairs.

Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, clarified in a PTI interview that the fact-check unit is not a form of censorship but rather a mechanism to assist platforms in dealing with contentious government information. He emphasized that when the fact-check unit validates the information, platforms are only required to label it accordingly, which does not constitute censorship.

The amendments to the IT Rules 2021, which introduced this provision, faced opposition from the Editors' Guild of India, who raised concerns about its impact on press freedom. However, Chandrasekhar refuted these allegations, stating that the government aims to reduce its involvement as an arbitrator in disputes between consumers and platforms. He explained that the intention is for platforms to be legally accountable for addressing consumer grievances, with recourse to independent regulators or courts for dispute resolution.