Fact checking saves lives, says Union minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore

India’s largest digital publisher Times Internet Limited held an event on September 28 to discuss the growing menace of fake news and misinformation. Col Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Union minister for Information and Broadcasting, was the chief guest of the event.


“A very interesting subject, and a grave concern to all of us,” Col Rathore began his speech addressing the menace of fake news and misinformation. Col Rathore said that fake news is fifth generation warfare and termed it ‘disinformation warfare’. He said, “Our soldiers are physically protecting us at the borders, but with this ‘disinformation warfare’, anyone can cross the borders and reach the people, even the remotest of them, and disrupt the sanity of the nation.”

Describing the problem of fake news and misinformation as a ‘delicate’ and ‘Catch 22-like’ situation, Col Rathore said, “As the government running the world’s largest democracy, this government will always uphold the citizens’ right to freedom of speech and expression and will always keep that in mind. But at times, we have to shut down internet, only to ensure the safety of our people.”

Col Rathore lauded Times Internet for setting up a dedicated ‘Fact-Check’ desk and said, “Fact checking is a colossal task. It’s not easy at all. It’s something very important to the society and I want to thank Times Internet for proactively setting up a team that will fight fake news and disinformation. You need to go to somebody who knows the subject. Fact checking can saves lives.”

Col Rathore urged all media houses to follow suit and said, “Fake news is a national threat. Somebody does not want you to know the truth.” He also shared some tips on how to be careful about sharing information. He said, “When you forward a message, you, in a sense, become the author of it. Before hitting that forward button or that share button, take a minute to check news websites if the information is correct. Awareness is key. Kids should be taught about fake news in school; parents should tell kids too.”

Col Rathore also tweeted about the event -


Gautam Sinha, CEO, Times Internet, while delivering the welcome address, said, “Times Internet has 400 million users every month from across the country, and as the largest digital publisher, not just in India but possibly globally, we have a responsibility towards the society. We see misinformation, lack of trust and fake news as very serious problems. We want to build a progressive society by building trust.”

Thanking Col Rathore for taking out time to grace the occasion, Sinha said, “Fake news always existed but the reach it is getting now is the worrying problem. We want to work with the government of India to tackle the problem of fake news and misinformation and to make the process effective.”

Sinha also spoke about how Times Internet properties provide context and editorial process while sharing information, and about the importance of being transparent.

“The onus is on us than other media houses because we are the largest,” Rajesh Kalra, Chief Editor, Times Internet said while talking about how Times Fact Check was born. He said, “We are journalists, and we do make mistakes at times. It is rare, but it happens. Fake news is different. The intention behind fake news is to deliberately mislead.”

Kalra said, “We wanted to give confidence to the readers. We have worked really hard to ensure we don’t make mistakes at all. It’s not just the fact-check desk that we have to fight against fake news. We have a show called Fake Bole Kauwa Kaate. It’s hilarious! People laugh but we ensure that the point is made, that people understand fake news that they fell for or could have.”

Kalra said, “We are concerned because we care about this nation. Narrative can be decided by what people discuss and if people are discussing fake news, it’s a bad sign. With elections around the corner, do we really want such a threat looming over us?”

Talking about hitting the fake-news purveyors where it hurts, Puneet Gupt, COO Digital News, Times Internet, said, “WhatsApp has become the default gateway for information for a large number of people. They may not reach news websites to see the fact-check stories, but we can reach out to them on the same platform with our fact-check initiative. The truth should go as viral as the fake news.”

Sanjay Sindhwani, Business Head, Economic Times, taking part in the discussion shed light on an area that is seldom spoken about - the focus Times Internet has on softer content. Sindhwani said, “Purely from a content perspective, while most people believe that Times of India does a lot of core news, we also do a lot of content that brings the country together. For instance, we have a lot of content on cricket, we take pride in it; in our food, culture and tourism. We even have a dedicated section called Times Food where we figure out local tastes that define our country. On our travel site Happy Trips, we talk about places to visit to help people discover the real heritage of our country.”

You can check out Times Fact Check here.

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