SC concerned over ‘fake news’ on virus

Court says exodus triggered by panic over lockdown continuation, but it doesn’t intend to interfere with free discussion on Covid

nNEWDELHI: Media should maintain a strong sense of responsibility, while disseminating news on coronavirus and should ensure that unverified and fake news is not published, the Supreme Court said on Tuesday after the central government drew its attention to the possibility of people panicking due to “fake” and “inaccurate reporting” of news connected with Covid-19.

“We expect the media (print, electronic or social) to maintain a strong sense of responsibility and ensure that unverified news capable of causing panic is not disseminated. We do not intend to interfere with the free discussion about the pandemic, but direct the media refer to and publish the official version about the developments,” its order read.

The court was hearing two petitions, one by advocates Rashmi Bansal and Anuj Gupta and another by advocate Alakh Alok Srivastava, that brought the issue of plight of migrant labourers to the notice of the court.

The court, on Monday, had asked the centre to submit a status report. The government filed a detailed affidavit on Tuesday.

In it, the centre had also prayed that directions should be issued to the media to not publish anything without first ascertaining the factual position by way of a mechanism provided by it. “Any deliberate or unintended fake or inaccurate reporting either in electronic, print, or social media and particularly web portals has a serious and inevitable potential of causing panic...”, it stated.

The bench of Chief Justice of India, SA Bobde and justice L Nageswara Rao underscored the need to prevent spread of incorrect information. It also noted that the migration of large number of labourers working in the cities was triggered by panic created by fake news that the lockdown would continue for more than three months.

“Such panic driven migration has caused untold suffering to those who believed and acted on such news. It is therefore not possible for us to overlook this menace of fake news...”, it said.

In a bid to combat spread of fake news, the court directed the central government to publish a daily bulletin through all media.

“Centre’s prayer (to restrain media) is absurd. Controlling fake news is one thing while having pre-censorship is another. They are effectively saying that whatever the government says is the only version. This is virtually a plea for pre-censorship”, said Mahesh Menon who teaches law at Daksha Fellowship.

The Centre said that while action can be taken by authorities against those crating panic under the Disaster Management Act, a direction from the SC will help in mitigating any potential damage resulting from a false alarm.

“A framework is currently in place under the Disaster Management Act but it is not in negation of Constitutional rights of freedom of speech and expression. Part of the reason why things got out of control in China was there was no free media there and the state tried to suppress the information and facts”, Menon added.

The court’s order does specifically mention that it will not interfere in “free discussion of the pandemic” but it also asks that the media “refer” to and “publish” the “official version about the developments.” It wasn’t immediately clear what this would entail. For instance, almost all states put out official bulletins with the number of cases and deaths, but the dashboard of the ministry of health and family welfare updates this with a significant lag.

The Centre also informed the SC that large-scale exodus of migrants, mostly daily wagers, was under control and that most have been taken to shelters. It suggested roping in the services of counsellors, and religious and community leaders, to counsel those lodged in shelters, which the court accepted.

CHANDIGARH

PUNJAB

HARYANA

DELHI

RAJASTHAN

GUJARAT

MADHYA PRADESH

MAHARASHTRA

GOA

KARNATAKA