5 firms, including Gauri Media, to run anti-fake news unit in K'taka

Bengaluru: A media house named after slain journalist Gauri Lankesh is among five companies that have been selected to run the government’s anti-fake news unit, which is expected to start operations soon.

The development comes after Chief Minister Siddaramaiah ordered a crackdown on fake news this June, a decision that had the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and the BJP’s right-wing ecosystem in mind.

The Karnataka Information Disorder Tackling Unit (IDTU) to fight fake news will be headed by an officer of the rank of additional director-general of police (ADGP).

Gauri Media, Logically Infomedia Pvt Ltd, Trylika Technology Ltd, Newsplus Communications and OW DataLeads have qualified to run the anti-fake news unit and its various verticals. 

While all five companies will be involved in fact-checking, three of them — Logically, Trylika and DataLeads — will do analytics and capacity-building.

The Fact-Check Team detects and addresses false information. The Analytics Team will use advanced technologies such as data analytics and Artificial Intelligence to "actively oversee the ecosystem of misinformation". The Capacity-Building Team will lead public awareness campaigns to educate people about the "presence and consequences" of misinformation. 

“Each company has its own methodology to detect fake news. While one company uses AI, another specialises in misinformation that’s spread on WhatsApp,” IT/BT Minister Priyank Kharge, who is leading the initiative to set up the anti-fake news unit, told DH. “So, we would like all these methodologies to meet at a common ground, which will happen once an ADGP is appointed as head of the unit,” he said. 

The government wants quality and swiftness in the fight against fake news, Priyank said. “Since this will be a public mechanism, we must inform the citizens on how we do what we do. There’ll be a standard operating procedure. Then, the process has to be swift given that fake news can spread in thousands by the hour,” the minister explained.

In October, the Karnataka Innovation and Technology Society (KITS) had invited expressions of interest from companies to set up the IDTU to fight fake news.

The Gauri Media Trust was formed by activists in the aftermath of Gauri’s killing.

Founded by entrepreneur Lyric Jain, Logically is a UK-headquartered firm with offices in Bengaluru and Mysuru. 

Based out of Dhanbad (Jharkhand), the founders of Trylika also run 13Tabs, a search engine that aims to fight fake news. DataLeads was founded by journalist Syed Nazakat to promote information democratisation. 

There is no clarity on the background of Newsplus Communication.