ISSUE OF FAKE NEWS IN INDIA

WHY IN NEWS:

• On 21^st Sept 2020, Government of India, while responding to Supreme Court in Sudarshan TV case, has said that the regulation of web-based digital media is the need of the hour.

BACKGROUND:

• Fake news is not a modern day phenomena. Fake news and rumours played an important part in our independence movement too. A major instance of fake news was in 1857; when a rumour spread that British had mixed bone dust of cows and pigs into the flour that was sold in the market. This fake news was a triggering event for the beginning of the revolt.
• In the age of internet and social media, fake news has found a tremendous application
• Both state and non-state actors are increasingly creating automated accounts on social media to manipulate online discussions.
• Russia has been accused of manipulating the 2016 US elections through bots and fake news
• Facebook in the light of mounting criticism in the wake of Cambridge Analytica data scandal has announced that it will fight fake news and political misinformation
• Globally, Snopes and in India Social Media Hoax Slayer, AltNews are some forums which expose fake news.

FAKE NEWS DAMAGES IN INDIA:

• Misinformation and disinformation spread in media is becoming a serious social challenge.
• It is leading to the poisonous atmosphere on the web and causing riots and lynchings on the road.
• Popular examples of fake news damages in India:
  • Muzzafarnagar riots of 2013: fake video fuelled communal passions
  • UNESCO has declared ‘Jana Gana Mana’ best national anthem in the world
  • Child kidnapping rumours lead to lynchings by a mob in Jharkhand
  • Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) annual report used a picture of Spain-Morocco border to show Indian border floodlighting

REASON FOR RISE IN FAKE NEWS:

• Increasing use of internet and social media for news consumption:
  • It is often very difficult to establish authenticity of news receiving through social media sites. The nature of anonymity that it provides will give space for fake news generators to thrive.
  • Traditionally we got our news from trusted sources, journalists and media outlets that are required to follow strict codes of practice.
  • However, the internet has enabled a whole new way to publish, share and consume information and news with very little regulation or editorial standards.
  • Competition among websites and social media platforms has sometimes resulted in the generation of fake news
• Polarization of society:
  • Increasing divide in the society on ideological and religious lines has made the job of spreading fake news easier.
• Paid news and erosion of media ethics:
  • Department-Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology in its 47^th report identified corporatisation of media, desegregation of ownership and editorial roles, decline in autonomy of editors/journalists due to emergence of contract system and poor wage levels of journalists lead to rise in the incidence of paid news and that in return result in generation of fake news
• Lack of a comprehensive legislation to deal with fake news:
  • There is no specific law to deal with fake news in India and the exiting regulatory set-up dealing with fake news is inadequate
• Regulators lack adequate powers:
  • Department-Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology found the punitive powers of statutory regulators like the Press Council of India and Electronic Media Monitoring Centre (EMMC) to be inadequate
  • It also highlighted the conflict of interest inherent with appointment of media-owners as members of the PCI or self-regulatory bodies.
• Inaction by the government:
  • Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has failed to establish a strong mechanism to check the spread of fake news
• Concentration of media ownership:
  • There is a lack of restriction on ownership across media segments (print, TV or internet) and it could give rise to monopolistic practices, which provides a fertile ground for spreading fake news
• Distribution of government advertisements:
  • The Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP) is the nodal advertising agency for the central government under the MoIB.
  • Various stakeholders alleged that the government uses advertisements to arm-twist media houses for favourable coverage.

IMPACT OF FAKE NEWS:

• Undue electoral advantage for parties indulging in spreading fake new:
  • Fake news is often created and circulated for gaining electoral gains.
  • It is a rising trend seen in many countries led by China and Russia where internet manipulation and control is very high.
• Affects harmony in society:
  • Spread of fake news can disturb the social fabric of the society and tensions among communities persists for long times.
  • It can lead to violence between two or more communities thereby creating enmity and hatred between them.
  • It reduces the tendencies of cooperation between different communities.
• Threat to scientific temper and rational thinking:
  • For example, the fake news related to denial of anthropogenic climate change, has resulted in the international agreement on climate change losing universal acceptance.
• Alters people’s faith in media:
  • People’s faith in social, print and electronic media is significantly affected due to fake news which could affect the benefits of these media as well the spirit of democracy as media being the fourth estate of democracy.

EXISTING REGULATIONS:

• Constitution of India:
  • Article 19 of the constitution provides freedom of speech which is the right to express one's opinion freely without any fear.
  • But this article also provides that state can impose reasonable restriction on these rights in the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, public order, decency or morality or in relation to contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an offence
• Press Council of India:
  • It is a regulatory body that can warn, admonish or censure the newspaper, the news agency, the editor or the journalist or disapprove the conduct of the editor or the journalist if it finds that a newspaper or a news agency has violated journalistic ethics.
• Indian Penal Code has certain sections which could curb fake news:
  • Sections 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot) and 295 (injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class) can be invoked to guard against fake news.
  • IPC Section 499 and 500 is another resort against fake news for individuals and groups hurt by the fake news. These sections provides for a defamation suit.
• The Information Technology Act, 2000:
  • Section 66 of the Act deals with certain offences related to fraudulent usage of communication media
  • (Section 66A which deals with punishment for sending offensive messages through communication service was struck down by Supreme Court in 2015)
• Broadcasting Content Complaint Council (BCCC):
  • BCCC examines content-related complaints relating to all non-news general entertainment channels in India
  • Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF), a unified representative body of the television broadcasters in India, is the parent organisation of the BCCC
• News Broadcasters Association (NBA)
  • It represents the private television news and current affairs broadcasters.
  • The self-regulatory body probes complaints against electronic media.

WAYS TO TACKLE FAKE NEWS:

• Making intermediaries accountable:
  • Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology is working to amend the Information Technology (Intermediaries Guidelines) Rules, 2011, to make intermediaries such as Google and Facebook more responsive and accountable
  • At the same time mainstream media must be accountable for spreading fake news.
• Using advanced technologies:
  • The artificial intelligence technologies, particularly machine learning and natural language processing, might be leveraged to combat the fake news problem
  • By using metadata and deploying human content moderation, social media could stop fake news, remove misinformation and even punish bad actors – without breaking end-to-end encryption.
• Including in school curriculum:
  • Italy, for example, has experimentally added ‘recognizing fake news’ in school syllabus.
  • India should also seriously emphasize cybersecurity, internet education, fake news education in the academic curriculum at all levels.
• Public awareness:
  • Countering content manipulation and fake news to restore faith in social media without undermining internet and media freedom will require public education
  • Government of India could partner with civil society groups to further educate citizens on how to identify real news from fake news
• Institutional framework:
  • Establish an independent agency to verify the data being circulated in social and other media.
  • The agency should be tasked with presenting real facts and figures.
  • The agency must be statutorily backed with a comprehensive legislation
• Increase the powers of PCI:
  • The PCI has sought amendment in the Press Council Act, 1978, to make its directions binding on government authorities and bring the electronic media under its purview.
• Making spread of fake news as a corrupt practice under RP Act
  • Amend the Representation of the People Act, 1951 (RP Act) in order to include indulgence of an electoral candidate in fake news as a corrupt practice, and thereby a reason for disqualification for candidature.
• Bring transparency in distribution of government advertisement:
  • There should be a transparent and unbiased policy for distribution of advertisements by the central and state governments, with provisions for scrutiny.
  • Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP) need to disclose details about disbursements of advertisements expenditure on its website
• Adoption of international best practices:
  • For example government can consider recommendations of Justice Leveson Report on the press and existing regulatory structure in the UK

CHALLENGES ASSOCIATED WITH CURBING FAKE NEWS:

• Tackling fake news may affect free speech:
  • The flip side is that the net is a place where there is a free sharing of information and ideas.
  • So, the question worth asking is if it is possible to ever regulate the Internet without throttling it, like China has done.
• Biased application of laws:
  • Laws to tackle incendiary content and hate speech that fuels violence are already in place.
  • What is seen lacking is a will to uniformly apply these rules, irrespective of political affiliations
• Laws to regulate media may affects its economic potential:
  • There has been a wave of investments in the digital news media space in recent years.
  • Regulations may increase the cost of operation of such media and it may hinder the economic potential
• Conflict between state security agencies and intermediaries:
  • Messaging platforms act as mere conduits for encrypted information.
  • They deny decrypting or intercepting messages sent through their platforms.
• Violation of privacy:
  • Traceability of information would undermine end-to-end encryption and weaken consumer privacy

CONCLUSION:

• It is important to address the issue of fake news holistically. Social media companies can’t be made scapegoats in such issue, as the root cause of fast spreading of fake news is political polarisation, communalism and lack of scientific temper among the people. The best way to tackle the menace is to improve media literacy among the people

PRACTICE QUESTION:

Q. “Curbing fake news in the digital media is need of the hour, but regulation must be sagacious” Comment.