NEW DELHI:
Congress president
Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday alleged that Prime Minister
Narendra Modi's intervention for the withdrawal of new rules to check
fake news indicated "a loss of control and panic."
The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) today directed the
information and broadcasting ministry to withdraw its press statement about the new rules, following which they were withdrawn.
The PMO said issues to do with fake news should only be addressed in and by the
Press Council of India, the regulatory body for print journalism.
The PMO directive came after the rules came under a barrage of criticism from political parties and journalists themselves.
The government yesterday said the accreditation of a journalist could be permanently cancelled if the scribe is found generating or propagating fake news, reported PTI. As per amended guidelines for journalists' accreditation, if the publication or telecast of fake news is confirmed, the accreditation of the journalist responsible for it would be suspended for six months in the first violation and for one year in case of a second violation.
The Congress and the
CPM had argued that the rules could be misused to harass honest journalists.
(With inputs from agencies)
