ANS: The government has issued an advisory for media outlets and social media platforms to avoid spreading misleading or altered Ram Temple content due to mounting concerns. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting stressed the importance of responsible reporting and expressed concerns about unverified, provocative, and counterfeit messages on social media, which could disrupt community harmony and public order.
The advisory emphasises following the programme code under the Cable Television Networks Regulation Act, 1995.
Cable services must not broadcast content that attacks religions or communities, promotes communal attitudes, displays obscenity, defamation, deliberate falsehoods, suggestive innuendos, and half-truths, encourages violence, or undermines law and order, according to the Programme Code. Furthermore, it should not promote anti-nationalism.
The Ministry also cited the Press Council of India’s 1978 Journalistic Conduct Rules, which are referenced in the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. This norm emphasises that the press should not disseminate inaccurate, unfounded, graceless, misleading, or twisted material.
Media outlets must guarantee that their content is not unpleasant, provocative, seditious, inflammatory, or meant to cause communal strife. Article 19(2) of the Indian Constitution requires them to self-regulate by being cautious when reporting news, comments, or information that could harm the state, society, or individuals.
The Ministry strongly advised newspapers, private satellite TV networks, and digital news and current affairs publishers not to spread inaccurate, distorted, or disruptive content.
The government’s advisory emphasises the importance of responsible and truthful reporting during major events like the Ram Lalla Pran Pratishtha in Ayodhya.