KCR faults Centre's move of fake news circular

Faulting the Centre’s decision to cancel the accreditation of journalists over the fake news, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Tuesday said that laws were already in place to deal with those writing fake and baseless news.

Asserting that the Centre has a responsibility to protect press freedom without having to violate the basic civil rights, KCR in a statement said that the move is sending disturbing signals among thousands of journalists in the country.

Following the widespread criticism, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday withdrew the controversial government's order which warned that journalists would be denied access to the government even on mere accusations of spreading fake news and could face their accreditation being cancelled for a limited period or permanently.

The circular said, “Determination is expected to be completed within 15 days by these regulating agencies. Once the complaint is registered for determination of fake news, the correspondent/journalist whoever created and/or propagated the fake news will, if accredited, have the accreditation suspended till such time the determination regarding the fake news is made by the regulating agencies - the Press Council of India and the News Broadcasters Association.”

Journalists and opposition parties reacted strongly against the order describing the guidelines as an attack on press freedom and pointing out that the circular offered no clarity on what would be considered fake news.