Due to the spread of fake Anti India news, over 60 social media pages were blocked

           L Murugan, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, stated that the government is deeply concerned about free speech and expression. More than 60 accounts have been disabled, including YouTube channels as well as Facebook and Instagram sites. To counteract fake news, the Press Information Bureau of this Ministry has established a ‘Fact Check Unit’. More than 30,000 requests have been answered by the unit’s fact-checking team. In response to supplementary questions in the Upper House, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting L Murugan stated that the government is highly concerned about free speech and expression.

‘When relevant enquiries belong to the Central Government, the unit answers with proper information; otherwise, the unit refers them to States/UTs’. The unit also has a Twitter account, @PIBFactcheck, where it exposes incidents of fake news that have been exposed on a regular basis. The Press Council of India (PCI) has developed ‘Norms of Journalistic Conduct’ for print media. The PCI has developed particular guidelines to prevent print media from publishing or disseminating misleading or false news.