Breaking Views: U-Turn on Fake News Diktat Was the Right Step

The ruling parties should follow the formula of ‘keeping your enemies and critics closer’.

(Photo: The Quint) 

Video Editor: Sunil Goswami

Some real news has come to light due to the government’s fake news directive, which was issued and withdrawn within the span of a day. The real news is that every government tries to control the media, but they have all failed.

In a statement issued by the Information and Broadcast Ministry, it was said that any complaint regarding fake news will be investigated. Complaints pertaining to print media will be referred to the Press Council of India (PCI) and the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) will look into matters  relating to electronic media. These organisations will then decide whether the news is fake or not. 

The directive caused a massive uproar among journalists, with many condemning the new rule. However, within a few hours, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) ordered for it to be withdrawn, saying that the decision on fake news should be taken by institutions like the PCI and NBA.

People Spreading Fake News Don’t Really Want Accreditation

The government has made a U-turn on its own order.

However, the reality is that people who spread fake news are not concerned about accreditation at all. They don’t want accreditation from the Press Information Bureau (PIB).

While it is true that big media houses are used for propaganda by the government, they don’t generate fake news. However, because people often share false news on digital media, the whole fake news business keeps going on.

There might have been reports of dissatisfaction with digital and social media, due to which the government is troubled. It is because of this that journalists across the country are now under attack.

In such a situation, the Prime Minister’s intervention comes more as a sigh of a relief than something to be celebrated, because any attempt by the government to control the media usually ends up having a counter-effect. An example of this is the ongoing Dalit agitation.

Till 1 April, there was no proper coverage of the Bharat Bandh, because politicians in India did not pay any attention to it.

The Dalit movement was ignored as a local matter by the government and the media. The government did not anticipate that the situation would turn violent. The truth is that when the media is put under governmental pressure, it becomes habitual of fear, of indifference, of laziness, and that is what happened this time around. Due to this, the media didn’t report important things and the situation got out of control.

The conclusion is that when the media is controlled, you don’t get to hear the necessary disagreeing and disapproving voices, and are instead enclosed in an eco-chamber.

The propaganda-spreading media hasn’t been reporting the truth. It has been working for the government, and questioning the Opposition.

In such a scenario, the ruling parties should follow the formula of 'keeping your enemies/critics closer'.

Listen to the critics. In an year when elections are nearing, the PM did right to withdraw a directive which tried to create an atmosphere of fear in the garb of curbing fake news.

Media is the fourth pillar of democracy and tampering with it is like tampering with democracy itself. Thus, this U-turn by the government comes as a huge relief.

(This article was first published on Quint Hindi.)