Central govt order which threatened Journalist gets wide criticism

New Delhi, April 3: Several journalist associations on Tuesday attacked a central government order that threatened to take away the accreditation of journalists who were found propagating fake news.

But following widespread criticism, Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered to withdraw the order earlier in the day.

The order issued on Monday night said a journalist's accreditation would be suspended once a charge of fake news was proved against him, which would be later determined by the Press Council of India and the News Broadcasters Association (NBA).

If found that the news was indeed fake, he or she could also lose their accreditation for a limited period or permanently and thus be denied access to government institutions.

Journalists and opposition parties took a serious note of the order issued by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry and described the guideline as an attack on the freedom of press.