Centre directs TV channels to follow Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act to avoid scandalous headlines

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on Saturday issued an advisory for all private news channels to follow the provisions of Section 20 of the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995. 

According to the sub-section (2) of Section 20, the Central government may regulate or prohibit the transmission or retransmission of any channel or program if it considers it necessary or expedient to do so in the interest of (i) sovereignty or integrity of India; or (ii) security of India; or (iii) friendly relations of India with any foreign State; or (iv) public order, decency or morality,” it said.

The Central government can regulate or prohibit the transmission/ retransmission of a program that is not found to be in conformity with the prescribed Programme Code has been stated under the sub-section (3) of Section 20 of the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995. 

The Ministry also stated that it has



issued advisories to satellite TV channels to adhere to the Programme Code of the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995. 

In the advisory issued by the Ministry, it had seen the way the channels have covered events like the Russia-Ukraine Conflict, as well as the North-Western Delhi riots. The government cited specific instances of "hyperbolic" statements by news anchors and "scandalous headlines/taglines" while reporting on the Ukraine-Russia conflict and disrupting the investigation process into the incidents in northwest Delhi by airing unverified CCTV footage.

The advisory also cited instances of the use of taglines or headlines such as 'Parmanu Putin se pareshan Zelenski (Zelenski worried about nuclear Putin), 'Parmanu action ki chinta se Zelenski ko depression' (Zelenski goes into depression over nuclear action), and making of “unverified claims misquoting” international agencies that the third world war has already started.