Hearing Jamiat Ulama petition, CJI Ramana has said that ‘a section of the media’ was showing everything ‘with a communal angle’
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI – Leading English newspapers have lauded Supreme Court’s observation expressing grave concern over communalisation of news in the media but differed with the apex court over the solution it has offered.
On Thursday, while hearing Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind petition seeking action against media groups for “communal branding of Covid” linked to the Tablighi Jamaat gathering at Markaz Nizamuddin in the national capital, Chief Justice N.V. Ramana said, “The problem is that everything in this country is shown with a communal angle by a section of the media”. Apart from that, the court also flagged the issue of fake news published on social media and news websites.
Reacting to the apex court’s observation in its editorial headlined “Hate news: Chief Justice of India’s anguish is spot on”, Indian Express lauded the court specifically for making the observation that everything is being shown with communal angle by a section of media.
However, the daily differed with the apex court in which it held news portals responsible for fake news not the news channels which actually communalized the Covid-19 to target Tablighi Jamaat.
“The Tablighi Jamaat was demonised, and an attempt was made to manipulate the fears already stoked by a little-known virus to deepen communal polarisation. The prime suspects were TV channels who have decided to play megaphones for those in power even if it means amplifying hate. In this context, however, the court’s lament about ‘no control on web portals’ and platforms without ‘accountability’, may unfortunately be an instance of not framing the problem in its full complexity,” noted the editorial.
Chief Justice Ramana asked the Central government to make a self-regulatory body to tackle this issue. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta presented the new Information Technology rules as a solution to the problem. However, The Express said that the state is part of the problem, not solution here.
“The communalisation of news is partly because of decisions taken in some newsrooms and boardrooms to do so. But arguing for control by the state is to simply ignore the larger context and political eco-system, while risking the potential cramping of the constitutionally guaranteed fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression. The state is part of the problem here, not the solution,” said the daily.
It further said, “after all, those sections of the media that purvey the most vicious and divisive images and narratives, and must therefore be cast most squarely in the dock for communalisation, are those that also proudly fashion themselves as spokespersons of the establishment and allow themselves to be weaponised by it. This problem will not go away, then, if only the state tightens a law, or sharpens a rule”.
However, the daily hoped that the observation made by CJI about the communal aspect of the media would start a debate on the issue.
Another leading daily Times of India also lauded the Supreme Court for flagging the communal overtones in the news and the menace of fake news on social media and YouTube.
“Chief Justice of India NV Ramana was spot on when he observed that the communal overtones of content published by social media and YouTube channels all work to show India in a poor light, never mind that some of these offenders consider themselves ‘patriotic’,” said the editorial of TOI.
The TOI appreciated CJI’s positive observation about print media. However, it also disagreed with CJI over the criticism of news portals with regard to fake news.
“It is also important to distinguish social media from digital news portals, which include digital publications of the print media. The latter go through the same due diligence as newspapers and face the same regulatory regime. Strangely and indefensibly, GoI’s purported response to social media excesses, IT (Intermediary Guidelines) Rules 2021, doesn’t quite make this distinction between genuine news outlets in the digital space and wild wastelands of social media and fly-by-night hate factories,” said the TOI.
