To fact-check posts on social media, I&B PSU floats a tender

Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Limited (BECIL), a central public sector enterprise (CPSE) under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, has floated a tender inviting agencies to provide “solution and services” related to “fact verification and disinformation detection” on social media platforms.

In its tender which seeks to empanel agencies to fight fake news and misinformation on social media, BECIL has also mandated that bidding firms must be able to “identify key influencers behind disinformation” and their geo-location. This, cyber-law and other fake news dispelling experts said, opens up avenues for illegal surveillance by the government and was akin to a ‘witch hunt’.