Naanugauri.com started to continue legacy of Journalist Gauri Lankesh, blocked by Facebook
Unilateral decision by FB without verifying facts: Gauri Media Team
Bengaluru: Naanugauri.com online news and views portal launched in remembrance of journalist Gauri Lankesh and to carry her legacy forward after her brutal killing in State’s capital in 2017, has now been blocked by Facebook from sharing their links and posts, said a release by the Media Group.
In addition, the popular social media platform has removed all of the previous links and posts shared previously from the official account of the portal. In a release from the “Gauri Media Team” which runs the portal, the group has termed this as a “dark day” as, despite repeated attempts of communication with the Facebook, the social media platform was not convinced to restore its links and posts and to allow them to share new posts.
The group added that the portal has always followed Journalistic ethics and to their best possible efforts to publish content which is always verified.
“This is a dark day. We tried our best to communicate to FB that naanugauri(dot)com is a reputed and respected news website. Not just only to FB community standards, we try to follow Journalistic ethics to our best possible effort and we publish content which is always verified and checked” the release added.
They further added that Facebook failed to give any specific reason for the same, except dropping a message that suggested that the portal had violated the community standards of the social media giant. The portal, however, has denied the claims of Facebook terming it “far from being true”.
“Many reputed scholars across India like H S Doreswamy, Devanuru Mahadeva, Yogendra Yadav, Prashant Bhushan, A Narayana, Amit Basule and many more have contributed to naanugauri. This establishes the trustworthiness of naanugauri beyond doubts. This is a widely read Kannada news website too” it further added.
It also did not rule out the theory of a widespread conspiracy of those with far right-wing mindset adding that it was possible that with malicious intent they might have deliberately campaigned against the portal to bring its credibility and authenticity down on public domain.
“But it is a bare minimum expectation that Facebook should have some basic system in place to verify such false and untrustworthy campaigns against only a few trustworthy media houses remaining in this country, (naanugauri being one of them)” it said.
“In this regard, we would urge Facebook to unblock us and allow sharing of our news links, and thereby we are hoping to establish mutual cooperation in building ethical standards in Journalism” the release further demanded.
Speaking to Vartha Bharati, the editor of the portal Vasu asserted that they were surprised by the move from Facebook adding that it came only days after they had carried a story critical of a BJP MLA. He doubted it that is what had prompted the action by Facebook.
Vasu then stressed that social media platforms should have a proper mechanism in place and transparency in the action it initiates against groups that work in the public domain. He confirmed that the group has appealed to Facebook to revoke its action and to restore their links but added that they were yet to get an official response from Facebook.
Vartha Bharati contacted the Facebook team to get a comment. This story will be updated as and when we get a response from Facebook.
Update: Facebook officials at 5:30 pm on Saturday informed Vartha Bharati that the page was unblocked on its platform.
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AIITA welcomes Karnataka’s ban on obscene songs in school events
Bhatkal: The Karnataka unit of the All India Ideal Teachers Association (AIITA) has welcomed the Karnataka government’s decision to strictly ban school children from dancing to obscene songs during educational and cultural programmes in government, aided, and private schools across the state.
AIITA Karnataka State President M. R. Manvi congratulated the government for taking what he termed an important step to preserve the sanctity of education.
“Such decisions to safeguard the dignity of school children and uphold the values of education are the need of the hour. This rule should not be limited to government schools alone but must be strictly implemented in all private educational institutions as well,” he said.
He further urged the government to address other concerns within school programmes.
“The government should not only prohibit obscene dances in the name of school anniversaries, but also ensure that plays and dialogues that incite religious hatred are avoided. Schools should be centres of harmony, not platforms for spreading hatred,” he added.
According to a recent circular issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, obscene dances are adversely affecting the mental health and moral values of students.
In this regard, schools have been advised to use songs that promote nationalism, positive thinking, the greatness of Kannada culture, and value-based traditions instead of inappropriate content during programmes.
The circular also emphasises that students should be dressed in decent attire.
AIITA also backed the department’s warning that disciplinary action would be taken against head teachers if such guidelines are violated. The association has further demanded that district Deputy Directors of Public Instruction strictly monitor the implementation of these rules.
