Self-regulation is the only way to avoid government interference in news, commission says | Latest Indian News

The Editors Guild of India (EGI) and News Broadcasters and Digital Association (NBDA) as well as senior officials of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting were deposed before a committee headed by BJP Lok Sabha MP Nishikant Dubey. The discussion focused on the weaponization of press freedom laws, the functioning of the government’s fact-checking unit, and issues with social media and fake news on news channels.

The EGI, NBDA and the ministry have been given 10 days to submit written replies to the Lok Sabha secretariat on the issues raised by the committee members.

EGI said that various laws, including the Information Technology Act, are being used as weapons to restrict press freedom. The Guild highlighted Section 353 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which provides for imprisonment of up to three years and/or fine for publishing false information with intent to incite enmity. EGI said the law’s definitions were vague and subject to abuse.

The Guild also noted that in September 2024, the Bombay High Court rejected the central government’s attempt to create a government fact-checking unit through the 2023 amendment to the IT Rules as unconstitutional.

Ministry officials, including secretary S Senthil Rajan, said that after the amendment is withdrawn, the fact-checking department of the Press Information Bureau can only flag misleading content related to the central government but cannot issue takedown notices.

Of course, the amendment did not clarify whether the government FCU would have deregistration powers, and this confusion was debated at length during the Bombay HC proceedings.

At the meeting, Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale cited two cases where false information was spread by government officials themselves but the facts were not verified by the PIB FCU. First, when Randhir Jaiswal, a spokesman for the Ministry of External Affairs, said in a public statement that the blocking of Australia Today’s social media accounts in Canada following the publication of an interview with Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar “highlights Canada’s hypocrisy regarding freedom of speech,” although the handles were blocked by Meta due to the platform’s decision in May 2023 to stop making news content available on its platforms in Canada. Secondly, when Jaishankar and Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had paused the Ukraine-Russia war.

Gokhale asked whether the Government of India, its ministers and officials were exempt from fact-checking by the PIB FCU, although the unit fact-checks individuals on social media and news organizations. He also asked for details of the GRU’s methodology and information on how many misleading or false statements from the central government itself had been verified by the GRU’s PIB.

MIB officials said that PIB FCU did not provide adequate attention to fact-checking content through its social media accounts; he relied on complaints made to him, and no complaints were filed about false statements by government officials. Parliamentarians were asked to provide written submissions in this regard.

Dubey at the meeting said that the PIB was created to disseminate information about the central government and was responsible and accountable to the government and not the people.

Gokhale asked MIB officials about the watermarked version of the Broadcasting Services Regulation Bill, which was circulated to select stakeholders in July and was eventually withdrawn.

Regulation of news channels

NBDA Chairman Rajat Sharma told the committee that news broadcasters who are members of the NBDA do not interfere with the functioning of its judicial body, the News Broadcasting and Digital Standards Authority (NBDSA), which is headed by retired Supreme Court judge Justice A.K. Sikri. .

Sharma told the committee that a number of media houses become members of the NBDA, but when the NBDSA issues orders against them, they leave the self-regulatory body so that they do not have to comply. He said the NBDA cannot force people to join as it is a voluntary exercise.

Anuradha Prasad, honorary treasurer of NBDA (chairman and director of News24), suggested to the committee that the government should make registration with the self-regulatory body a mandatory condition for licensing news channels, and Dubey repeated the suggestion to MIB officials.

Gokhale said the amount of fines imposed by NBDSA is limited to a maximum amount. ₹5 lacs is a paltry amount for a show like Sharma whose ad revenue for an hour long show is in double digits. The TMC MP asked how such small amounts could act as an effective deterrent. Sharma told the committee that the NBDA is considering revising the fine on ₹25 lacs.

Gokhale also said that there was no separate mechanism for channels that repeatedly violated the standards and instead each violation was treated as a first violation. Sharma said the matter would be brought before the board of directors.

Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi also said that the NBDA/NBDSA has not acted against repeat offenders like News18, which regularly broadcasts “accused, misleading and false news”. She cited independent fact-checking service AltNews as saying that despite more than 300 cases of News18 broadcasting public programs, the NBDA/NBDSA took action in only five cases.

Lok Sabha MPs Devesh Shakya (Samajwadi Party, Uttar Pradesh) and Rajesh Verma (Lok Jan Shakti (Ram Vilas) Party, Bihar) raised the issue of local cable news channel operators and YouTubers who were engaged in “extortion” by blackmailing politicians into pay. they get paid to not spread false and harmful stories about them.

MIB officials said local cable operators are regulated by the district collector or magistrate. Dubey said it was unfair for the MIB to hold the district collector or magistrate responsible for this when they were already saddled with other responsibilities. He told MIB that the ministry could not abdicate responsibility.

Gokhale also raised questions about how the NBDA regulates social media posts from personal accounts and public speeches by editors and channel owners.

AI generated fake news

Sharma said he himself became the target of deepfakes when deepfakes of him selling diabetes medicines were circulated on social media.

Chaturvedi raised the issue of news channels broadcasting AI-generated voice notes released by the BJP ahead of the Maharashtra assembly elections on Tuesday. According to her, all channels continue to show synthetic voice notes as fact, without comparing them with the archives they have of the voices of public figures.

It was only on Wednesday, after independent fact-checker Boom said three of the four voice notes were definitely fake, that some news channels began fact-checking the BJP’s tweets, she said at the meeting. She asked the NBDA if it had circulated any recommendations to its members, asking them to fact-check whether one member had done so, and how the agenda for prime-time debate shows was set up.

In response, Prasad said at the meeting that political parties should also take responsibility for the amount of fake news being spread as they have entire ecosystems (referring to ‘troll armies’ and ‘IT cells’) spreading misinformation.

Problems with the Press Council of India

EGI also raised concerns about the Press Council of India, especially the selection of its chairman. The EGI said the PCI had become partisan and, rather than being accountable to Parliament as required by the Press Council Act 1978, it had been stymied by the executive.

Dubey said that the rules for selecting PCI chairman have remained unchanged since 1978, to which EGI said that not only the present government but every successive government has made PCI toothless. The Guild offered to submit a written statement regarding the problems with the selection of the PCI chairman, and Dubey accepted the proposal.

As per the PCI Act, the Chairman of the PCI is appointed by a committee consisting of the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha and a person elected by the Council, nominated by the Central Government.