Channels warned over ‘provocative’ content on Ukraine, Jahangirpuri

THE MINISTRY SAID THAT PRIVATE TELEVISION CHANNELS HAD GIVEN COMMUNAL COLOUR TO THE ACTIONS OF AUTHORITY.

NEW DELHI: The Centre on Saturday cautioned private television channels from airing “unauthentic, misleading, sensational” content pertaining to the Ukraine-Russia conflict or Jahangirpuri clashes in the national capital.

In an advisory issued by the ministry of information and broadcasting, the government expressed serious concerns over the manner in which “television channels have gone about their operations in the matter of transmitting content” and advised them to “immediately refrain from publishing and transmitting any content which is violative of the aforementioned provisions of The Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 and the rules thereunder”.

The telecast by private channels “appears to be unauthentic, misleading, sensational and using socially unacceptable language and remarks, offending good taste and decency, and obscene and defamatory and having communal overtones, all of which appear to be violative of the Programme Code and infringement of the provisions of sub-section (2) of Section 20 of the aforementioned Act”, the ministry observed.

“In particular, attention is invited to reporting on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, certain incidents in North-West Delhi and of certain news debates,” it said.

On the coverage pertaining to the Ukraine-Russia crisis, the ministry said channels have been making false claims and frequently misquoting international agencies or actors, and using “scandalous headlines or taglines” completely unrelated to the news.

Taking strong exception to the April 16 Jahangirpur violence coverage, the ministry contended that private television channels had given communal colour to the actions of authority.