Govt should immediately take action against those involved in disseminating fake news: Media Society

Nepa Media Society, an umbrella organization of private publications and television broadcasters, has demanded action against those involved in creating fake news with malicious intention to defame some established media houses and also to assassinate the character of their owners and a sitting Supreme Court justice.

Issuing a statement on Friday, Society Chairman Shuvashankar Kandel said that such attempts to spread rumors about responsible media houses have made them serious.

On Friday, Sidhakura.com, an online news portal, released an audio recording titled "Deal with Supreme Court justice among others to dismiss 400 corruption cases".

The Society said that audio was released with an aim to damage the reputation of  some media houses and also to attack on democratic structures, independent media and judiciary.

“The law enforcement agencies should immediately take action those involved in releasing the audio aimed at defaming some established media houses and damaging the reputation of their owners and a sitting Supreme Court justice without any facts or evidence. It is necessary to clarify that the factories that create such news with an ill intention to spread propaganda cannot be called the media,” Society Chairman Kandel said in the statement.

“We strongly demand that the government take action against such propaganda-producing factories and curb the activities that fall under the category of ‘hate speech’” he said.

Saying that international media organizations around the world, UNESCO and also the United Nations have consistently been expressing concern over the extreme misuse of social media and technology to spread rumors and to change the general public and entire society into an irresponsible group, Chairman Kandel said that such attempts are also being made in Nepal.

“It is a well-known fact that some interest groups and those who are abusing the government mechanism are being scared of Nepali responsible mainstream medias’ leading role in exposing some big corruption cases and other incidents,” the statement reads. “News can be made, should be made with facts on any topics or any one be it media houses or journalists. It is a terrible trend in itself to misuse any online news portals or social media platforms to avenge personal enmity. It is certain that such doings will weaken the democratic system in the future if not controlled on time.”

“It is necessary that the government and the law enforcement agencies should accept the fact that anything without responsibility will not be tolerable for a democratic society,” Kandel said, adding, “The latest fake audio case is part of a premeditated plan to attack on Nepali media, journalists and judiciary. It is clear that the latest fake audio case is nothing but a plan to spread rumors and manipulate the people.”

On Friday, Press Council Nepal had directed sidhakura.com to remove a fake news published on April 26, 2024, claiming that the leadership of Annapurna Media Network and Kantipur Publications were part of a meeting involving sitting and former Supreme Court justices and senior lawyers to dismiss more than 400 corruption cases. The news portal has named Capt. Rameshwar Thapa, chairman of Annapurna Media Network (AMN), and Kailash Sirohiya, chairman of Kantipur Publications, as key members of the so-called high profile secret meeting.

The Press Council has instructed the news portal to take down the news and furnish clarification for publishing such malicious and fabricated content. The made-up report advertised to readers as ‘exclusive’ is aimed at damaging the reputation of the Supreme Court as well as the media houses.