The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting vide press release dated 26.04.2020 informed that the ‘Fact Check unit’ of Press Information Bureau through tweet dated 26.04.2020 clarified that the Central Government is not mulling a reduction in retirement age of Central Government employees. The tweet was a response to an article printed on a web portal which claimed that the Government of India is likely to reduce the retirement age of its employees to 50 years.

Further, PIB Fact Check busted another fake news circulated through WhatsApp that Government is going to introduce a new legislation which will compel the taxpayers to deposit 18% of their income. The tweet clarified that government is not introducing any such legislation. It also advised people not to share such unverified information.

Further, the PIB Assam performed a fact check on a news published in Manipur claiming that the District Hospital in Tamenglong was not having sufficient infrastructure and equipment to combat the COVID-19 crisis. The Fact Check clarified that abovementioned news was fake and Tamenglong District has adequate medical equipment and facilities. The State Health Department also earlier rebutted the claim in the article.

The PIB Fact Check is a verified handle on Twitter which was set up by Press Information Bureau to keep a check on trending messages on social media platform and conduct comprehensive review of its contents to bust fake news. The service was initiated to regulate the spread of fake news on social media, in order to verify the authenticity of any news. Any person can submit to ‘PIB Fact Check’ any social media message including audio and video to online portal https://factcheck.pib.gov.in/ or on WhatsApp No. +918799711259 or email: pibfactcheck@gmail.com for the conducting fact check.

Order:Fake News 26.04.2020 PIB

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