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Narendra Modi on FAKE NEWS; I&B ministry to work with journalists’ body

Publishing and circulating of fake news is a punishable crime. And this was backed by the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry.

 In an extraordinary intervention, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday got the I&B ministry to scrap its controversial plan to punish journalists for purveying alleged fake news.

“PM has directed that the press release regarding fake news be withdrawn and the matter should only be addressed by the Press Council of India,” an official statement said amid gathering protests from the media against the ministry’s controversial move, which also drew attacks from the opposition.

READ ALSO: Rahul Gandhi takes a dig at Central government for taking U-turn in fake news issue

The public frowning was unprecedented and many interpreted it as designed to send out an unambiguous message about Modi’s unhappiness. It left no scope for doubt; neither about the authorship of the move nor about the trigger for why it had to be dramatically aborted.

In a strongly worded statement, the Editors Guild said the PM’s direction scrapping the order did not go far enough to allay all concerns. It said the recent rejig of the Press Council of India raised doubts over its impartiality.

The alacrity on the part of the ministry to withdraw the notification indicated that it had caught wind of the deep unease the order had caused both within the government as well as in the BJP. Minutes before the PMO’s directive to withdraw the order came, I&B minister Smriti Irani tweeted what appeared to be a position different from the stand she had taken the day before.

She said, “PIB accreditation guidelines asking Press Council of India and News Broadcasters Association to define and act against ‘fake news’ have generated debate. Several journalists and organisations have reached out giving positive suggestions regarding the same.”

READ ALSO: PM Modi asks I&B Ministry to cancel order on fake news

Irani also said her ministry was “more than happy” to engage with journalists’ bodies and organisations which wanted to give suggestions to fight the “menace of fake news” and to “uphold ethical journalism”.

The order for withdrawal, however, robbed the ministry of any room to pretend that it had rowed back on the much-criticised move on its own, and the statement sharply embossed the PM’s fingerprint on the recall order, rather than use the diplomatic device of attributing it to a faceless PMO.

In the statement issued on Monday night, the I&B ministry announced punitive measures like suspension and cancellation of accreditation of journalists to contain fake news.

Amending the guidelines, the ministry said accreditation of journalists found guilty of creating and propagating fake news would be suspended for six months in the case of first violation and for one year in case of a second violation. If an offender was held guilty of creating or propagating fake news a third time, the government said such a person’s accreditation would be cancelled permanently. 

READ ALSO: Government to cancel accreditation of journalists for fake news

The move triggered criticism, with many journalists and opposition parties seeing it as an attempt to curb press freedom ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

WHAT DID THE GUILD HAVE TO SAY?

Significantly, the Editors Guild, which condemned the guidelines and acknowledged the PMO’s role in getting it scrapped, emphasised that the intervention did not go far enough to allay all their concerns.

“The Guild acknowledges the intention of the Prime Minister’s Office to withdraw the I&B ministry’s notification but remains deeply disturbed that faith continues to be reposed on the Press Council of India to deliver justice on such issues. The recent reconstitution of Press Council of India has been done in a manner that gives rise to doubts over the independence of the institution and its ability to play neutral umpire. The Guild’s nominees to the Council were disallowed on technical grounds,” it said.

Sources justified the PM’s unusual intervention and said it was necessary to squelch doubts about the government’s stance towards free speech. “A ministry has the privilege to take policy decisions on matters in its domain but the PMO can take a different call after factoring in larger repercussions and is entitled to take appropriate measures,” a government functionary said.

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