New Delhi: Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur spoke on the issue of fake news on DNA with Zee News Editor in Chief Sudhir Chaudhary.
Thakur said the fake news issue raises a new cause of concern for the government and stated that strict legal action should be taken against people who spread false news.
He further spoke about a regulator that can raise questions to news channels, newspapers and even the digital platforms on the authenticity of the news that is being shared in the efforts to counter fake news.
Thakur pointed out that since the government respects an individual's the righ to freedom of expression so they cannot step in directly but if any leader uses the social media to spread fake/false news and does not even apologise then somebody has to set things straight. He spoke about setting an accountability for spreading fake news.
When asked if filing of FIRs is a solution to stop the spred of fake news? He replied, "In a democracy there has to be understanding and maturity and it should be there in every field and sector."
Meanwhile, FIRs have been registered against Congress MP Shashi Tharoor and six senior journalists over the violence during farmers' tractor rally on Republic Day in Delhi. It has been alleged that "digital broadcast" and "social media posts" by these people were responsible for the violence during a tractor rally by farmers in Delhi on January 26.
They have been booked under sedition, among other charges.
