Containing disinformation

Initiatives by digital giants will be critical

The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the notification regarding the establishment of a fact-checking unit under the Press Information Bureau till the Bombay High Court decides the petitions challenging the amendments to the Information Technology Rules. Meanwhile, digital giants Google and Meta are finetuning strategies for combating election disinformation. Apart from releasing new detection tools, and offering training to fact-checkers, both will collaborate with fact-checking initiatives run by other organisations, and coordinate with the Election Commission of India (ECI). While all the major digital platforms mounted individual efforts against disinformation with mixed results in the 2019 general elections, the 2024