Govt. lifts ban on two Kerala-based channels penalized for coverage of Delhi riots

KERALA: On March 7, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting lifted the ban on two Kerala-based news channels. The Information and Broadcasting ministry had imposed a 48-hour ban on two Malayalam news channels- Asianet News and Media One on Friday.

The reason behind the ban was their coverage of the violence in north-east Delhi. The government accused them of being one-sided and particularly leaning towards one community. In a circuler sent out by the government, it noted that "such address could fuel communal disharmony across the country when the situation is highly volatile.”

The I&B ministry informed the media that at 1.30 am the ban on Asianet News was lifted, while the ban on Media One was lifted at 9.30 am today. The 2 channels had reportedly written to the ministry seeking abrogation of the bans, following which it was lifted.

On Friday the I&B ministry ordered the prohibition of transmission or re-transmission of the channels for 48 hours with effect from 7.30 pm on March 6 because the government said it had found the 2 channels in violation of the program code dictated under the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995.

The circular reads, “While reporting such critical incident, the channel (Asianet News) should have taken utmost care and should have reported it in a balanced way. Such reporting could enhance the communal disharmony across the country when the situation is highly volatile,"

Asianet has said that its reports were factual and never intended to attack religion or a community.

Also criticizing Centre’s decision to suspend the transmission of two news channels, the former finance minister and Congress leader P Chidambaram tweeted:

https://twitter.com/PChidambaram_IN/status/1236119087899480064

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