The News Broadcasting & Digital Standards Authority (NBDSA) has taken significant action against several television news programs for their role in spreading hatred and communal disharmony. Led by retired Supreme Court judge Justice A.K. Sikri, the NBDSA has imposed fines and warnings on prominent news channels, as reported by Live Law.
Additionally, all three TV channels have been ordered to take down offending programs from their online platforms within seven days.
Times Now Navbharat has been fined Rs 1 lakh, while News 18 India faces a penalty of Rs 50,000. Additionally, Aaj Tak has been issued a warning. These actions come in response to complaints filed by activist Indrajeet Ghorpade, citing inflammatory content in the channels' programming.
Advertisement
Times Now Navbharat, a part of the Times group, was penalised for targeting Muslims and propagating the concept of "love jihad." Anchor Himanshu Dixit was found targeting Muslims as a group and labeled inter-faith relationships as "love jihad."
Similarly, News 18 India, currently under the ownership of billionaire Mukesh Ambani's conglomerate, has been penalized for three programs. Among them, two were hosted by Aman Chopra, and one was presented by Amish Devgan, faced penalties for communalising the Shraddha Walker murder case as an instance of "love jihad."
A warning was issued to Aaj Tak, part of the India Today group, regarding its program hosted by Sudhir Chaudhary. The show was cautioned for portraying acts of violence during Ram Navami as targeting a specific community in a generalized manner.
Advertisement
The NBDSA found these channels in violation of the Code of Ethics & Broadcasting Standards, particularly regarding impartiality, objectivity, and accuracy. The authority also cited breaches related to hate speech prevention and avoiding communal narratives in reporting incidents.
“It is the genaralisation of these incidents by targeting the entire community, which is found to be violative of the principles of Impartiality, Objectivity and Neutrality under the Code of Ethics & Broadcasting Standards (“Code of Ethics”) and the Specific Guidelines covering Reportage relating to Racial and Religious Harmony. In the impugned broadcast, the anchor had also violated Clauses (f) and (h) of the Specific Guidelines for Anchors conducting Programmes including Debates,” the NBDSA order stated.
In March 2023, the NBDSA had previously directed channels, including News18 India, Times Now, and Zee TV, to remove several programs for violating broadcasting standards.
The News Broadcasting & Digital Association (NBDA), formerly known as the News Broadcasters Association (NBA), is an industry body representing private television news, current affairs, and digital broadcasters in India.
