Journalists could lose accreditation if propagate fake news
New Delhi: In an election year, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry has amended guidelines for journalists’ accreditation stating that if a journalist is found to have “created and/or propagated” fake news, the journalist’s accreditation will be suspended or permanently cancelled.
In a press release issued Monday evening, it said that the Press Council of India and News Broadcasters Association (NBA), the two regulatory bodies for print and television media respectively, will determine whether the news is fake or not.
Once a complaint is registered for “determination of fake news,” the Ministry’s statement said, the accreditation of the journalist who “created and/or propagated the fake news” will be “suspended till such time the determination regarding the fake news is made by the regulating agencies mentioned above”.
Immediate responses to the move from journalists were almost uniformly negative, ranging from those who think this move will not affect the actual problem of fake news to others who believe this is an attack on press freedoms.
The Press Information Bureau website says that 2,404 journalists now have accreditation. To put that number in context, there were 105,443 newspapers registered in India as of 2015 (and that does not count broadcast or digital news organisations). So it is clear that the impact of these regulations is on a very small subset of Indian journalists.
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Minor girl kidnapped and raped; main accused and two cafe owners held
Latur (PTI): A minor girl was allegedly kidnapped and raped by an 18-year-old man in Latur, leading to the arrest of the main accused and owners of two cafes where the crime occurred on December 4, police said on Saturday.
Police traced the girl within hours of registering the complaint. The accused, identified as Rihan Gulab Shaikh, was arrested based on the girl's complaint. Two others are owners of two cafes where the crime occurred, police said.
Police registered a case under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS), POCSO Act, and the Prevention of Atrocities Act, an official said.
