The Karnataka Information Technology and Biotechnology (IT-BT) Department has issued a call for Expression of Interest (EoI) from agencies to establish an 'Information Disorder Tracking Unit' (IDTU). These selected agencies will collaborate with the state government to combat fake news.
IT/BT Minister Priyank Kharge announced on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, that the Karnataka government is fully committed to addressing misinformation, disinformation, malinformation, and fake news. The deadline for proposal submissions for this project has been set for October 16.
The Karnataka Innovation & Technology Society (KITS), operating under the Department of Electronics, IT, BT, and S&T, has initiated the tender process, which is open to all entities and companies registered in India. The IDTU will be composed of three teams, a fact-checking team, an analytics team, and a capacity-building team.
The fact-checking team will consist of independent fact-checking agencies appointed by the state government to identify false information. The analytics team will employ advanced technologies such as data analytics and artificial intelligence to proactively monitor the information disorder ecosystem. The capacity-building team will conduct public awareness campaigns to educate people about the existence and impact of the information disorder ecosystem.
According to the tender requirements, interested entities must have a minimum of three years of existence as of August 31, with prior involvement in fact-checking services and a track record of similar activities or units for other organisations. Additionally, all funding received by the agency must be transparently disclosed, and there should be no record of serious criminal proceedings against the company or its directors.