सीजेआई बोले- फेक न्यूज से तनाव बढ़ने का खतरा: देश में लोकतंत्र के लिए प्रेस की स्वतंत्रता जरूरी

CJI DY Chandrachud has said that fake news can create tension between communities in the digital age. This may threaten Democratic values. He said that the press should remain free for democracy in the country. Fake news has become a serious threat to the freedom and fairness of the press in the society. It is the collective responsibility of everyone including journalists to report incidents without any bias. Fake news can mislead millions of people at once. It would be against the fundamentals of democracy.

CJI Chandrachud was speaking at the Ramnath Goenka award ceremony. The CJI also said that democracy gets affected if the government stops the press from speaking the truth.

The CJI said that the press should ask tough questions to those in power.

Journalism’s own challenges
Regarding media trial, he said that many such cases have come to the fore where the media has declared the accused guilty in the eyes of the public even before the court has found him guilty.

Justice Chandrachud said that like every institution, journalism is also facing challenges. Responsible journalism is the engine that propels democracy towards a better tomorrow. In the digital age it is more important than ever for journalists to be accurate, fair, responsible and fearless in their reporting. He stressed that a healthy democracy must encourage a press that can ask tough questions to power or speak truth to power.

mentioned emergency
Referring to the Emergency era, he referred to the editorial page of the Indian Express in which the editorial was left blank. Justice Chandrachud said that this is an example of how powerful silence is. He said that the Emergency period was a frightening time, but such occasions also gave birth to ‘fearless journalism’ and therefore June 25, 1975, the day the Emergency was imposed, was a defining moment in history.

He said, “A declaration showed how fragile freedom can be.” He said that journalists, lawyers and judges like him have many things in common. Both assure that the pen is mightier than the sword. People may dislike him.It is not easy to bear.