NEW DELHI (TIP): With a view to “neutralizing” narratives critical of the Narendra Modi government, a Group of Ministers (GoM), formed to fine-tune “government communication”, has come out with various suggestions, including tracking “50 negative and 50 positive influencers” on the social media and to “neutralize the people who are writing against the Government without facts and set false narratives/spread fake news”, according to media reports. It emerges that the decisions to cap FDI (foreign direct investment) at 26% for the digital media and the new IT rules that have a separate section dealing with a code of ethics for Over The Top (OTT) platforms such as Netflix and Amazon Prime were the result of the GoM’s deliberations. The FDI cap was essential, the GoM felt, to constrict foreign influence on the Indian media. As a result of this capping, Huffington Post, which had been publishing reports critical of the Modi regime, shut its operations in India.

Information Technology (IT) Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani, Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Minister Prakash Javadekar, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju, Urban Development Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State (MoS) for Finance Anurag Thakur and MoS for the Environment Ministry Babul Supriyo were part of the GoM, which met six times between June 14 and July 9 last year.

The GoM’s report was first reported by Caravan magazine. There is so far no official word on its contents.

The GoM report quotes suggestions made by the Ministers. For instance, Prasad suggested, “A list of media personnel and prominent persons, who are pro our line of thought – both nationally and globally, should be prepared. Few eminent academicians, Vice Chancellors, retired Indian Foreign Service officers etc should be identified who can write our achievements and project our viewpoint.” Irani, who held the I&B portfolio in the previous Modi government, recommended, “We should track 50 negative and 50 positive influencers.” The suggestion has been accepted by the GoM and the I&B Ministry has been tasked with implementing it.

Naqvi suggested direct action against those writing against the government. “We should have a strategy to neutralize the people who are writing against the Government without facts and set false narratives / spread fake news,” he advised.

 

Among other action points recommended by the GoM include enlarging the Prasar Bharati News Service into a “main line news agency”. Among the long- term agreed strategies include “coordination with schools of journalism as present students are the future journalists.”

 

Puri told the GoM that the journalists who are supportive of the government, even if they are now unemployed, should be roped in. As per the report, this suggestion would also be acted upon. Thakur wanted the BJP and the Modi government to reach out to right-wing parties across the world to arrive at a common ground.

Supreme Court favors regulation of OTT platforms

The Supreme Court on Thursday, March 4, made it amply clear to OTT (over-the-top) platforms like Netflix and Amazon that it is in favor of “screening” content shown by them. It said some of the films hosted by the platform were pornographic. “Traditional film viewing has become extinct. Now films and web series are viewed by the public on these platforms. Should there not be some screening? We feel there should be some screening… There is pornography in some films,” Justice Ashok Bhushan, leading a Bench, also comprising Justice R. Subhash Reddy, observed. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Amazon producer Aparna Purohit’s bail, said this “was not about pornography but the right to freedom of expression”.

 

“But a balance has to be struck,” Justice Bhushan retorted.

 

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said the content included “filthy abuses”. The hearing was based on a plea by Purohit, Amazon Prime’s commercial head, against the Allahabad High Court decision to deny her pre-arrest bail in connection with the probe into Tandav, a web series hosted by the platform. The FIR said the series ridiculed Hindu gods and the country’s political power corridors.

 

Justice Bhushan said the court wanted to consider Purohit’s case in the light of the new guidelines notified by the government to hold social media and OTT platforms accountable for their content. The Bench asked the guidelines to be placed on record and scheduled a hearing for March 5.

 

The Information Technology (Guidelines for Intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules of 2021 requires streaming platforms to comply with a new three-tier self-regulatory complaint redressal system. It also includes an independent self-regulatory body headed by a retired high court or Supreme Court judge, which will decide on matters related to content.

 

Meanwhile, the Information & Broadcasting Ministry on March 4, clarified that none of the OTT platforms will have to register with the government and no government nominee will be present in the self-regulatory body. The statement was issued after I&B Minister Prakash Javadekar had an interaction with representatives of OTT platforms