A system in place to combat the threat of false information: Dr. Murugan
INN/New Delhi, @Infodeaofficial
“The government is committed to taking all possible actions to control the spread of fake and misleading information, which has the potential to weaken democracy and create fissures in society,” stated Dr. L. Murugan, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting. Dr. Murugan stated that the government has institutional and statutory measures in place to combat false information on different media platforms in a written response submitted to the Rajya Sabha on Friday.
He stated that in order to combat false information about the Central Government, a Fact Check Unit was established in November 2019 under the Press Information Bureau of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. The Minister stated that the Fact Check Unit shares accurate information on its social media channels after confirming the veracity of news from approved sources in Ministries and Departments.
Murugan explained that the Press Council of India’s Norms of Journalistic Conduct, which prohibit the dissemination of false, defamatory, or misleading information, must be followed by print media outlets. According to Dr. Murugan, the Council investigates claims of norm violations and has the authority to issue warnings, reprimands, or censures to the publication, editors, journalists, etc.
According to him, the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act of 1995 mandates that TV channels’ content must follow the Programme Code, which states that no content that includes offensive, defamatory, intentional, false, or suggestive innuendos or half-truths may be aired on private satellite TV channels. According to the Minister, a three-tiered grievance redressal procedure is provided under the Cable Television Network (Amendment) Rules 2021 to investigate complaints regarding TV stations’ violations of the Code.
According to Dr. Murugan, the government has announced the IT Rules 2021 in accordance with the Information Technology Act with respect to digital news producers. The Norms of Journalistic Conduct established by PCI and the Program Code under the Cable Television Network Regulation Act, 1995, must be followed by news and current affairs publishers on digital media, according to these rules.