By Omar Rashid / The Wire
New Delhi: The Uttar Pradesh government has issued an order directing officials to probe ‘negative’ news items published by media outlets.
The order said officials concerned must seek explanations from the media houses if the facts in the story were found to be “twisted” or “false” in order to tarnish the image of the government.
Akhilesh Yadav, the main Opposition leader in Uttar Pradesh, has accused the Yogi Adityanath-led Bharatiya Janata Party government of conspiring to finish off democracy and gagging press freedom after it asked officials in the state to investigate “negative” news items that were tarnishing the image of the ruling dispensation.
The Samajwadi Party president – while responding to questions in Fatehpur on Friday by media on the Uttar Pradesh government’s controversial step to keep a tab on press reports – said, “This is a conspiracy to finish off democracy. Today, they are obstructing your freedom. Tomorrow, they will even prevent you from speaking.”
In a move further raising serious questions on its tolerance for media freedom and criticism, the BJP government has asked all district and divisional administrative chief officials to keep track of and investigate “negative” news stories and seek explanations from the media houses if the facts in the story were found to be “twisted” or “false” in order to tarnish the image of the government.
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