Modi govt. trying to control digital media, which is more defiant than mainstream media: N. Ram

The government is exaggerating the narrative of ‘fake news’, says director of The Hindu Group in an interview to Stephen Sackur for BBC’s HARDTalk segment.

Under the guise of regulating the social media intermediaries, the Narendra Modi government is trying to control the digital media which has been more defiant than the mainstream media, N. Ram, director of The Hindu Group, has said in an interview to Stephen Sackur for BBC’s HARDTalk segment. He was speaking on the topic “Is freedom of expression under threat in the world’s biggest democracy.” Mr. Ram said that the new Information Technology (IT) rules brought out by the government were problematic. Former Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad while announcing the new Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021 said they were “soft-touch oversight” mechanisms to deal with issues such as persistent spread of fake news.