On fake news through newspapers, the minister said the Press Council of India is an autonomous statutory body and takes care of the journalists ethics code.”Journalists have to follow ethics code. Wherever they have not followed the ethics code under the Press Council Act Section 14, action has to be initiated. In more than 150 cases, we took action against them,” he said.Asked about Techfog app roles in spreading fake news, Murugan said the government has established a fact check unit, which has responded to more than 30,000 queries.This unit is also verifying viral fake news, he added.According to an official statement, the ministry on January 21 had ordered blocking of 35 YouTube based news channels and two websites which were involved in spreading anti-India fake news in a coordinated manner over digital media. Additionally, two Twitter accounts, two Instagram accounts, and one Facebook account were blocked.In December also, 20 YouTube channels and two websites were blocked, the official statement had said.In a written reply to the starred question, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Singh Thakur said the government has statutory and institutional mechanisms in place to combat fake news.
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