The government’s Information Disorder Tackling Unit (IDTU) started operations quietly during the Lok Sabha election through its website satya.karnataka.gov.in
Karnataka’s first government-sponsored fight against fake news has ended after a 90-day trial in which authorities combed 64,000 articles per day on the internet, resulting in at least 18 FIRs and some lessons to tighten the system further.
The government’s Information Disorder Tackling Unit (IDTU) started operations quietly during the Lok Sabha election through its website satya.karnataka.gov.in
A total of 537 fact-checks were done, which took six hours on average. Of them, 500 were deemed ‘threats’.
At least two FIRs were related to falsities spread about BJP and its leaders. One FIR was against people targeting the JD(S). But most FIRs were filed in cases related to disinformation targeting Congress and its leaders, according to details accessed by DH.
Politics and elections accounted for 54 per cent of all the fact-checking that was done.
The IDTU is likely to resume operations after technical upgrades, which will include refining procedures on legal action and enhanced citizen participation.