"Definitely, the use of technology is going to be the anchor for the fact-check unit," said Karnataka's IT Minister Priyank Kharge in Bengaluru yesterday, responding to MediaNama's question on whether and how the state's upcoming fact-check unit will use technology to counter misinformation online. Speaking at TiE Delhi-NCR's India Internet Day, held in partnership with TiE Bengaluru, Kharge added that "if I don't use technology, predictive analysis, and pre-empting [sic] fake news, false news, misinformation, [and] malinformation [sic], there is no point in coming up with that idea at all. I have to also preempt [this speech]...There are enough tools, [like] artificial intelligence tools, that can predict what can happen or what will happen through malicious narratives and handles that do that." The state's fact-check unit, which was approved by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah of the Indian National Congress (INC) earlier this week, was first proposed in June. It also came after Kharge filed a police complaint against Bhartiya Janta Party politicians for allegedly spreading "malicious content" against INC leader Rahul Gandhi online. At the time, Kharge informed the media that the fact-checking unit would address fake "ideas or news" on social media that violated India's Information Technology Act, 2000. Why it matters: Pre-emptively monitoring (and then 'fact-checking') online content could harm free speech rights on the Internet, raising concerns about censorship (and pre-censorship) online. However, to fully realise the consequences of a state agency using predictive analysis for 'fact-checking', more clarification is required from Karnataka's IT Department on how the fact-checking unit will…
