Tackling fake news is a challenge: Anurag Singh Thakur

Union Minister Anurag Singh Thakur addresses challenges of fake news in democracies, urges media vigilance for countering disinformation.

With 80% of the democracies going to the polls, tackling fake news and misinformation is a challenge, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Anurag Singh Thakur said on Monday.

Deepfakes and AI posed various challenges in terms of fake news. As voters, citizens should be well aware of what was fake and what was right. There was also the challenge of paid and fabricated news during elections, he said, speaking at the launch of Tamil news channel Janam from Marudham Multimedia Limited in Chennai.

“The infodemic of fake news continues to pose a threat. I urge media houses to be vigilant and self-evaluate their methods to counter the spread of disinformation – a challenge faced by democracies worldwide,” Mr. Thakur said.

He underscored how the media landscape had changed, starting with print media and moving on to electronic media and now, the new age media with the advent of social media. “In a democratic set-up, it is very important that we get free and fair news,” he said.

Mr. Thakur said that regional media could play a very important role in creating awareness among the masses across boundaries in terms of goals such as Viksit Bharat in the next 25 years.

Union Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying and Information and Broadcasting L. Murugan highlighted the importance given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Tamil language.

Madhu, Managing Director, Janam Tamil Television, and Ramesh Prabha, CEO, Janam Tamil Television, said that the news channel would focus on nationalism, spirituality and Tamil identity.