‘Govt to take tough legal measures’
United News of India
New Delhi, May 10: Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar on Sunday described fake news as dangerous to the democracy, and said the government is considering to take stringent legal measures in this regard.
On the occasion of Narada Jayanti, Mr Javadekar expressed these views in a webinar of National Union of Journalists India (NUJ-I), and released a report on fake news prepared by the organization.
The Minister said that fake news is being spread by a particular section to deny the success of the government in the campaign against Corona.
“This type of news is very dangerous for the democracy. To reveal their truth, the report prepared about fake news is highly appreciated. The ministry will study all its aspects,” he said.
He said that recently the Press Information Bureau (PIB) has also developed a mechanism to check facts.
“With the help of this, the truth is being exposed on social media by identifying fake and false news,” the minister said.
In the webinar, the report focused on fake news was released by NUJ-I National General Secretary Manoj Verma, NUJ-I National Treasurer Rakesh Arya, Delhi Journalists Association President Anurag Punetha and General Secretary Sachin Budhauliya along with the senior journalists.
The NUJ-I report says that in this period of Corona infection, we also feel our duty to disclose the way in which the people and society are misleaded by the spread of fake news.
“Hence, it was decided to release this report regarding fake news and its problem in the Corona era. Because the public sentiment of journalism is being hurt. On the basis of information received from its various state units, NUJ-I found that thousands of news websites are being operated in the country without any registration,”the report said.
“For the purpose of fraud, more than two and a half thousand domains have been registered in the name of Corona. At present there is no concrete specific law to deal with fake news or misinformation on websites in India as online media does not come under any regulatory framework,” it added.
