New Delhi:
Union
Minister for Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Prakash Javadekar said on
Saturday that fake news was a bigger menace than paid news and urged the media
fraternity to introspect about ways to deal with it.
Speaking at an event organised by the Press Council of India
(PCI) to observe National Press Day and confer National Awards for Excellence
in Journalism, the union minister for information and broadcasting also touched
upon the issue of “lynching” and how only “one kind of lynching”
was being talked about.
“A fake news was circulated about child-lifters and it
claimed 20 lives. When there is discussion about lynching, only one lynching is
talked about but these 20 people also died due to lynching. That is not talked
about,” he said. Talking
about how fake news goes viral on social media, he said even if a tweet is
deleted, it stays somehow.
“Press freedom has to be responsible freedom. We need
responsible freedom. Media persons need to introspect. Fake news has more
TRPs,” he said, adding fake news was a bigger menace than paid news.
“There should be discussion about how to
deal with the menace of fake news. You can give suggestions to the
government,” he told the gathering.
Javadekar also spoke about how press freedom was curbed
during the British rule and the Emergency in 1975. He said as a student activist of the RSS-affiliated
Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), he had fought for press freedom
during the Emergency and had even gone to jail. (PTI)
