PIL in SC demands fake news and paid news to be declared a corrupt practice

Tribune News Service
New Delhi, April 25

A Public Interest Litigation in the Supreme Court asks for ‘paid news’ and ‘fake news’ to be declared corrupt practice under the Representation of People Act, 1951. 

Contending the right to know was an integral part of Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution, petitioner Ashwini Upadhyay—an advocate and Delhi BJP leader—submitted that the right to have accurate information was a necessity for electors to make an informed choice.

“But paid and fake news has a tendency to influence that choice in a negative manner, thereby causing injury,” he said.

Terming paid news, fake news and political advertisements as “deceptive pool of knowledge and information”, he said if it was not checked and allowed to become a new norm, the trust and confidence of electorate will soon be lost.

Drawing a distinction between genuine news and fake news, the petitioner said while news reports carried great intrinsic value as tools of information, paid news and advertisements masquerading as news were harmful.

“The Press Council of India has also recommended that paid and fake news be treated as a corrupt practice. Paid news and political advertisements can hardly be distinguished anymore, when Paid/Fake News is indirect means of achieving the motive of a political advertisement. It even emphasized on the distinction between News and Advertisements, since the line often gets blurred,” Upadhyay said.

He said publication of ‘Paid News’ and Political Advertisements during last 48 hours before the poll should be declared a corrupt practice under S. 123(4) of Representation of People Act, 1951 and the Election Commission and Press Council of India should be directed to take appropriate steps to curtail ‘Paid News’ and ‘Fake News’, particularly when the Model Code of Conduct is in force.

The petitioner also sought a direction to the government to take appropriate steps to deactivate bogus Facebook accounts, Twitter handles, web portals and other fake social media accounts which spread fake news.