A committee of Indian Parliament will, for the first time, debate on issues such as ethical standards in media coverage & preventing the misuse of social media platforms, both pertinent but controversial themes with the Govt & the Opposition believing that they are at the receiving end of lapses in the 2 areas.
If nothing, the topics suggest that proceedings of the Standing Committee on Information Technology led by the Congress’s Shashi Tharoor will prove interesting & fractious.
The panel has listed a total of twenty-one subjects for review in this financial year after its reconstitution last month: ethical standards in media coverage; safeguarding citizens’ rights & prevention of misuse of social/online news media platforms including special emphasis on women security in the digital space; review of the cybersecurity scenario in India; & a review of the functioning & outreach of Doordarshan channels, among other topics.
Standing committees are multi-party panels of Parliament constituted every year to review functioning & issues related to various ministries. While their reports are not binding upon the Govt, they provide key inputs to policymakers & ensure parliamentary oversight of important areas.
The topic on ethical standards in media coverage comes at a time when there has been some criticism of media coverage — particularly news channels, for its reporting of the Sushant Singh Rajput death case — & when a programme aired on Sudarshan TV was barred by the Supreme Court after it found its content objectionable to Muslims.
On Thursday, while hearing a plea seeking action against TV channels for allegedly disseminating fake news about the Tablighi Jamaat, which became a Coronavirus hot spot in late March, CJI SA Bobde remarked: “Freedom of speech is one of the most abused freedoms of recent times.”
The topic also comes up at a time when the Govt believes that there are false narratives against it & the Opposition believes that the Govt gets far more positive press than it deserves. Earlier this week, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has “captured” several institutions, including the media, & contended: “If the press & institutions are free, this Govt will not last for long.”
However, some of these issues, might trigger political divisions in the panel that is no stranger to furious disputes & partisan arguments. Last year, this panel even resorted to voting to decide if it could discuss the WhatsApp snooping case. This year, panel chairman Shashi Tharoor faced the BJP’s ire after he had announced that FB would be summoned to depose after The Wall Street Journal reported how Ankhi Das, Facebook’s top lobbyist in India, told colleagues that action against politicians from Modi’s party would damage the company’s business prospects.
The BJP leaders took objection to Tharoor’s announcement & linked it to the Congress party’s stand on the issue. The rift widened to such an extent that BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, a member of the panel, wrote to Speaker Om Birla asking for Tharoor’s removal as chairman.
That wasn’t to be, & when the panel was reconstituted, Tharoor was still its head.
Most importantly, the panel will also seek to have oversight on issues related to citizens’ data security & privacy.
“The Standing Committee on IT is an appropriate forum to discuss the ethical issues about media, & privacy issues especially in the context of women. People are extremely concerned about the way some media & social media have been used for vilification of women & propagation of a certain kind of news,” said Ex-Parliamentary Affairs Secretary Afzal Amanullah.
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