Important to know who is fact-checker & who is stirring trouble: I&B Minister tells House

New Delhi: Union Minister of Information & Broadcasting Anrug Thakur said in Parliament on Thursday that it was important to differentiate between a fact-checker and someone who is stoking tension & enmity in the guise of fact-check.

The I&B minister said this in reply to the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Manoj Kumar Jha, questioning govt on how it deals with those spread hatred & animosity via their commentaries.

“It is important to understand who is a fact checker and who is trying to spread enmity in the society in the name of fact-checking. If a complaint is registered against them, then action is taken under the rule of law,” Thakur said.

Referring to arrest of Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair, the RJD MP questioned the government over its ‘biased’ approach in dealing with hate-spreaders, apparently hinting at Nupur Sharma’s controversial comments that sparked off major uproar in India as well as the Middle East countries.

“I would like to know the procedure on those who spread hatred and animosity using their commentaries where little to no action is being taken against them. Whereas action is taken on fact checkers and we have seen that recently,” Jha said.

“यह भी जानना जरुरी है कौन फैक्ट चेकर है और कौन फेक्ट चेक के पीछे रहकर समाज में तनाव खड़ा करने का प्रयास कर रहा है। उन पर कोई शिकायत करता है तो कानून के हिसाब से उसपर कार्यवाही होती है”

– श्री @ianuragthakur राज्य सभा में प्रश्न काल के दौरान @sansad_tv pic.twitter.com/QPUauRYz1b

— Office of Mr. Anurag Thakur (@Anurag_Office) July 21, 2022

Thakur also clarified that the action on troublemongers are taken as the stipulated law and the Ministry doesn’t interfere in that.

Just like Press Council of India (PCI) takes action against newspapers suo motu or based on complaints, the Electronics and information technology Ministry (MeitY) takes action on complaints against digital platforms. Action is taken against them under the law and the Union ministry doesn’t meddle in that,” he said.

Mohammad Zubair, the co-founder of fact-checking website was released on Wednesday, after serving 23 days in jail.