In a setback to the Smriti Irani-led Information and Broadcasting Ministry, the Prime Minister’s Office has asked the ministry to withdraw the press release wherein it declared to blacklist journalists and cancel their accreditation if found propagating “fake news”.

The PMO said that Press Council of India should handle the issue.

As there was widespread condemnation of the IB Ministry’s guidelines on the issue with many from the journalistic circles termed as an ‘assault on the freedom of the Press’, the Prime Minister intervened to control the damage. The order from the PMO came 20 minutes after IB Minister Smriti Irani posted on Twitter, saying that she was more than happy to engage with journalists to tackle the menace of fake news.

.@MIB_India is more than happy to engage with journalist body or organisation/s wanting to give suggestions so that together we can fight the menace of ‘fake news’ & uphold ethical journalism. Interested journalists and/or organisations may feel free to meet me at @MIB_India. 2/2

— Smriti Z Irani (@smritiirani) April 3, 2018

Earlier,  the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting declared that  a journalist’s accreditation will be suspended or permanently cancelled if he or she is found generating or propagating fake news.

In a press release issued on Monday, the ministry said the Press Council of India and the News Broadcasters Association (NBA), the two regulatory bodies for print and television media, respectively, would determine whether a news item was fake or not.

The government had said any complaint of instances of fake news would be referred to the Press Council of India if it pertained to print media and to the NBA if it related to the electronic media. “This determination is expected to be completed within 15 days by these agencies,” the ministry said.

As per the amended guidelines, if the publication or telecast of fake news is confirmed, the accreditation of that journalist would be suspended for a period of six months in the first violation and for one year in case of a second violation. In case of a third violation, his or her accreditation would be cancelled permanently, the ministry said in the release.

“The Accreditation Committee of the Press Information Bureau, which consists of representatives of both the Press Council of India and NBA shall be invariably be reached out to for validating any accreditation request of any news media agency,” said the release.

While examining the requests seeking accreditation, the ministry said, the regulatory agencies would examine “whether the `Norms of Journalistic Conduct’ and `Code of Ethics and Broadcasting Standards’ prescribed by the PCI and NBA respectively are adhered to by the journalists as part of their functioning” and that it would be “obligatory for journalists to abide by these guidelines”.