FACT CHECK UNIT - POLITY
News: Notifying fact check unit to monitor fake news
What is in the news?
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Recently, the new
fact-checking unit (FCU) was constituted under the new Information Technology (IT) Rules for identifying fake news
against the government on social media.
Fact Check Unit:
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The Ministry of Electronics and IT notified amendments to the Information Technology Rules, 2021,
which allows the Ministry to appoint the
fact-check body.
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Online
intermediary including social media platforms like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter and internet
service providers like Airtel, Jio and Vodafone Idea should make
“reasonable efforts” to not host content related to the Central Government that
is “identified as fake or misleading” by a “fact check unit” that may be notified by the IT Ministry.
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If any piece of
information is marked as fake by the upcoming fact check unit, intermediaries
will be required to take it down, failing which they would risk losing their safe harbor.
○ Safe harbor protects the online intermediaries from
litigation against third-party content.
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Social media sites will
have to take down such posts, and internet service providers will have to block
URLs of such content.