Indian government to cancel accreditation if journalists found guilty of writing fake news
Press Information Bureau (PIB), the nodal agency for communicating to media on behalf of government of India, has issued amended guidelines for accreditation of journalists to regulate fake news.
Indian government's Press Bureau issues guidelines to combat Fake News / Pixabay
According to PIB's statement, the step comes after increasing instances of fake news in India, across various mediums including print and electronic media.
It says PIB, on receiving any complaints of fake news, would refer it to the Press Council of India (PCI) if it pertains to print media and to news broadcasters Association (NBA) if it relates to electronic media, for determination of the news item being fake or not.
If any fake news has been confirmed by any of these agencies, the accreditation shall be suspended for a period of six months in the first violation and for one year in the case of second violation and in the event of third violation it would be cancelled permanently.
PIB in a statement said: "The Accreditation Committee of the PIB which consists of representative of both PCI and NBA shall be invariably be reached out to for validating any accreditation request of any news media agency.
"While examining the requests seeking accreditation, the regulatory agencies will examine whether the `Norms of Journalistic Conduct’ and `Code of Ethics and Broadcasting Standards’ prescribed by the PCI and NBA respectively are adhered to by the journalists as part of their functioning. It would be obligatory for journalists to abide by these guidelines."