NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday said the role of free press in a democracy must be respected, but warned that rampant misuse of the right to free speech by mushrooming web portals and YouTube channels to circulate with impunity slander, fake news and reports deliberately slanted with communal overtones would “ultimately bring a bad name to the country”.
CJI N V Ramana said, “The print and television media are generally responsible and have a regulatory mechanism in place for effecting corrections. But everything shown in a section of media, especially the web-based ones, carry a communal overtone. There is no control”.
During the resumed hearing on a more than a year-old petition filed by Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind complaining about circulation of fake news and biased reporting during the pandemic to vilify Tablighi Markaz, a bench of the CJI and Justices Surya Kant and A S Bopanna took the lid off its pent-up grievances against web portals and web channels allegedly indulging in irresponsible as well as motivated reporting to damage reputations and spread communal disharmony.
“There is no regulatory control over fake news and slandering by web portals and YouTube channels. They can publish anything they want without verification or paying heed to facts. If you go to YouTube, there are many channels circulating fake news. Anyone can start a YouTube channel and circulate whatever they want. There is no regulatory mechanism for these channels and portals,” said the CJI, and asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta whether the Centre has put in place any regulatory mechanism against people misusing the right to free speech.
Mehta said, “The real contest is between freedom of speech and the right of citizens to get correct news and information. Through the framing of the new Information and Technology rules, we have tried to strike a balance between the media’s right to free speech and the citizens’ right to correct information. The rules mainly intend to stop circulation of fake news and hold the web portals and channels accountable for the content disseminated by them”.
The SG said the new IT rules have been challenged in several high courts and requested the SC to transfer all pending petitions in HCs to itself for an authoritative ruling on the validity of the impugned rules that intend to subserve media’s right to freedom of speech and citizens’ right to authentic news.
But, the CJI had not yet finished conveying his concern over the present scenario involving the web portals and channels. “They write vituperatively against judges, institutions and whomever they dislike. And when asked to bear accountability for their reports, they never respond. They say they have a right to publish whatever they wish to. There is no control,” Ramana lamented.
Mehta said there is a growing tendency among a section of web portals to tarnish the image of individuals and institutions through irresponsible reporting. “Through the new IT rules, the government intends to fasten accountability on the media and the reports they publish. We have attempted to strike a balance between freedom of speech and the right to correct news through a three-tier mechanism. First, the aggrieved person can make a complaint to concerned media; second, the media is mandated to take corrective measures or give response to the complaint within 15 days; thirdly, if no corrective measures are undertaken or the complaint remains unheeded beyond 15 days, the authorities can initiate proceedings,” he said.
The SC asked the SG to ensure that the Union government filed its fresh counter-affidavit in two weeks detailing the steps taken for stopping fake news and irresponsible reporting. SC also said that it would list the Centre’s plea for transfer of all petitions in HCs challenging the new IT rules to the apex court along with the main petition filed by Jamiat Ulama.
