NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Center to create a mechanism to address the threat of fake news in the middle.
He sought to know from the Center about the mechanisms available under the Cable Television Network Regulation Law, and also what actions have been taken against false news in the last three weeks.
Attorney General Tushar Mehta responded that the Center has broad powers to regulate the content of television channels, but takes a very cautious approach, as the right to freedom of expression as a fundamental right is available to the media.
The court then asked the attorney general to create a mechanism to address complaints against fake news circulating on television channels and the media, if none is currently available. “What is shown on television channels has great consequences for the country,” he said.
The bank, which was hearing allegations made by Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind and others alleging that a section of the media I was spreading communal hatred over Tablighi The Jamaat congregation during the start of the pandemic, asked the Center to present a new affidavit on the mechanism to regulate electronics media under the Cable Television Networks Act.
The superior court has released the matter for hearing after three weeks.
In October this year, the court had harshly criticized the Center for an affidavit regarding media coverage of the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in New Delhi.
The Jamiat Ulama I-Hind had submitted a petition to the Supreme Court saying that false propaganda was unleashed by circulating fake news about the Tablighi Jamaat on social media, television and print media to uniquely target the Muslim community. He alleged that the government had remained a mute bystander and sought a joke by reporting that the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi’s Nizamuddin led to the spread of Covid-19 in many parts of India.
The Center had allowed a junior official of the I&B ministry to submit an affidavit, informing the court that it was impossible to act on the statement of Jamiat Ulama I-Hind. In a brief observation, the court has called the affidavit “absurd.”
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