New Delhi, Mar 26 (PTI) The government on Wednesday told the Lok Sabha that its fact-checking unit identified 1,575 fake news stories from 2022 to March 19 this year.

In a written reply, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the Fact Check Unit (FCU) was set up under the Press Information Bureau (PIB) in November 2019 with the objective of countering dissemination of fake news and misinformation related to the government.

Also Read | Why Is Google Free for Netizens?.

In 2022, it received 25,626 queries, of which 8,107 were found to be actionable. The FCU identified 338 fake news stories, Vaishnaw said.

In 2023, the FCU received 20,684 queries, of which 6,623 were found to be actionable. It identified 557 fake news stories, he added.

Also Read | Bharat Ratna for Lalu Prasad Yadav? Setback for RJD As Bihar Assembly Rejects Proposal To Recommend Highest Civilian Award To Party Chief.

The FCU received 21,404 queries in 2024, of which 6,320 were found to be actionable and 583 fake news stories identified.

As of March 19, the FCU received 5,200 queries, of which 1,811 were actionable and 97 identified as fake news stories.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)