India News | PIB Fact Check Unit Identified 1,575 Fake News Stories from 2022 to March 19 This Year: Vaishnaw

New Delhi, Mar 26 (PTI) The government on Wednesday told the Lok Sabha that its fact-checking unit identified 1,575 fake news stories from 2022 to March 19 this year.

In a written reply, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the Fact Check Unit (FCU) was set up under the Press Information Bureau (PIB) in November 2019 with the objective of countering dissemination of fake news and misinformation related to the government.

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In 2022, it received 25,626 queries, of which 8,107 were found to be actionable. The FCU identified 338 fake news stories, Vaishnaw said.

In 2023, the FCU received 20,684 queries, of which 6,623 were found to be actionable. It identified 557 fake news stories, he added.

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The FCU received 21,404 queries in 2024, of which 6,320 were found to be actionable and 583 fake news stories identified.

As of March 19, the FCU received 5,200 queries, of which 1,811 were actionable and 97 identified as fake news stories.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)