Government combats fake news; amends guidelines for accreditation of journalists. Full details here

The Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on Monday night launched an attack on the spread of fake news, a global phenomenon that has leveraged the proliferation of digital technologies and has been accused of having led to a number of unforeseen outcomes.

The guidelines for accreditation of journalists have been amended to contain deterrents to fake-news. The Press Council of India and the News Broadcasters Association have been made adjudicatory bodies to which 'fake news' can be referred. At stake would be the accreditation of the journalist who created or propagated the news in question.

The Smriti Irani-led ministry issued a notification titled:

Guidelines for Accreditation of Journalists Amended to Regulate Fake News.

In it, the ministry writes:

Noticing the increasing instances of fake news in various mediums including print and electronic media, the Government has amended the Guidelines for Accreditation of Journalists. Now on receiving any complaints of such instances of fake news, the same would get referred to the Press Council of India (PCI) if it pertains to print media and to News Broadcasters Association (NBA) if it relates to electronic media, for determination of the news item being fake or not.

Determination is expected to be completed within 15 days by these regulating agencies. Once the complaint is registered for determination of fake news, the correspondent/journalist whoever created and/or propagated the fake news will, if accredited, have the accreditation suspended till such time the determination regarding the fake news is made by the regulating agencies mentioned above.

The Accreditation Committee of the PIB which consists of representative of both PCI and NBA shall be invariably be reached out to for validating any accreditation request of any news media agency. While any confirmation of publication or telecast of fake news having been confirmed by any of these agencies, the accreditation will be suspended for a period of 6 months in the first violation and for one year in the case of 2nd violation and in the event of 3rd violation it would be cancelled permanently.

While examining the requests seeking accreditation, the regulatory agencies will examine whether the 'Norms of Journalistic Conduct' and 'Conduct of Ethics and Broadcasting Standards' prescribed by the PCI and NBA respectively are adhered to by the journalists as part of their functioning. It would be obligatory for journalists to abide by these guidelines.

Following the announcement, the Congress' media in-charge politicised the move, making a 'Fascism' allegation at the Modi government. Citing an article, Surjewala wrote:

"Fascism reaches its ‘nadir’ as a shaky Modi Govt, caught in its web of lies, seeks to muzzle all independent voices in media through fallacious rules!"