Key Points:
A Parliamentary panel submitted its report titled “Review of Mechanism to Curb Fake News”, calling for strict measures to counter fake news.
The committee urges statutory backing for the Press Information Bureau’s Fact-Check Unit (PIB-FCU).
Social Media platforms need strong self regulatory measures; Digital Media Literacy important to counter misinformation.
The Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology, headed by BJP MP Dr. Nishikant Dubey presented its 22nd report on the “Review of Mechanism to Curb Fake News”. The Committee comes under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
It consists of a total of 31 Parliamentarians, 21 from Lok Sabha and 10 from Rajya Sabha. The final recommendations were submitted on December 2, 2025, on the second day of the Winter Session of the Parliament.
A key point raised by the panel is to clearly define “fake news”. According to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the term ‘Fake News’ is not defined under any statute. It generally means false or misleading news. This has led to ambiguity as laws are easily manipulated to prevent fake news from being removed.
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Referring to facts and figures, Dr. Nishikant Dubey stated that between April 2020 and April 2025, PIB-FCU received 1,63,597 fact-checking requests. Out of them, it acted on 53,155, and debunked 2,279 fake news stories.
The report states that the Fact-Check Unit of the Press Information Bureau lacks a statutory backing to enforce strict measures that can help prevent fake news. Presently, the PIB-FCU can only verify and present corrections. It is completely up to the social media intermediaries and other stakeholders to remove them.
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Apart from it, the committee also recommended revisiting the ‘Safe Harbour’ clause under Section 79 of the IT Act, 2000. The aforementioned clause presently protects intermediaries, such as social media platforms and digital websites from liability of user content. It comes with their self regulatory measures, so that unethical content and false news are avoided. However, various organizations are not following self regulation measures properly, which causes further propagation of fake news.
Dr. Nishikant Dubey also highlighted how the use of AI leads to an unprecedented rise in misinformation being spread. AI algorithms and deep fakes pose significant challenges in countering this problem. To address this, the committee advised that government, media organisations, digital platforms and fact checkers come together to develop a counter mechanism.
The report mentions that AI can be misused to create manipulating content and deepfakes. Although AI is an important tool that can be used to combat fake news and false propaganda, its misuse can deter the process of combating fake news. It further mentions that AI can be productively used to detect deepfakes and assist in identifying false and malicious information.
Other significant measures recommended by the committee are increasing digital and media literacy, providing it at grassroots level, and educating children about it in their school curriculum. Media organisations and other various governments should take strict measures to maintain self regulation and take strict measures to avoid false news.
(Rh/GP)
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