NEW DELHI, Aug 16: Government departments are setting up Quick Response Teams (QRTs) to monitor and respond promptly to fake, misleading and misinformation-based content circulating on social media, an official said.
The initiative aims to strengthen government engagement with citizens and ensure that rumours, misinformation and misleading posts related to government policies and programmes are addressed in a timely manner.
The QRTs will scrutinise such content, coordinate with concerned officials and issue factual responses wherever necessary. Departments including power, agriculture and commerce have already constituted their teams.
Officials said ministries are expected to respond to misleading content within two hours of it being flagged. Their social and digital media teams will monitor relevant platforms and coordinate with the New Media Wing of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
Under the mechanism, content that is fake, factually incorrect, manipulated, distorted, taken out of context or likely to cause public confusion will be referred to the QRTs for verification.
The teams will also coordinate with the PIB Fact Check Unit while handling misinformation.
Cases involving highly viral content, sensitive policy matters, significant public interest, potential public harm, legal implications or coordinated misinformation campaigns will be escalated to senior authorities, officials said.
