Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday said the government had sought legal opinion to sue some television channels and newspapers for defamation.
He said some sections of the media had insinuated that the Chief Minister and Chief Secretary Vishwas Mehta had conspired to set fire to a particular area in the Secretariat. The news outlets said the government wanted to sabotage the Central probe into the UAE consulate linked gold smuggling case. They implied that the government had attempted to erase evidence through a deliberate act of arson.
The news outlets had attempted to tarnish the reputation of an elected government. They could not publish a shred of evidence to back their claim. The government would also move the Press Council of India against the media houses.
Mr. Vijayan refused to identify the newspapers or channels. “If you insist, I will do so later,” he said.
Mr. Vijayan dismissed reports that the government had ordered a criminal investigation against some journalists and their organisations.
He said the media should self regulate. They should not sidestep their prime ethical responsibility, which was telling the truth. The mainstream media had a moral obligation to fact check before they broadcast or publish news. It was unethical to publish misleading content as fact. In the event of an error, media houses had an obligation to own up the mistake and rectify the wrong report publicly.
On September 17, Mr. Vijayan had denied reports that the government would attempt to muzzle the media. He had said the government had created a task force to detect and flag online misinformation. The initiative was not to mind or police news organisations.
