Identify ‘fake media groups’ that publish ‘anti-government stories’: J&K district magistrate to police

The district magistrate of Jammu and Kashmir’s Ramban district, Mussarat Islam, has asked the district police to identify “fake media groups” that are operating without registration, and to track their source of income, Indian Express reported.

In a letter to the senior superintendent of police of Ramban on Monday, Islam said several news platforms that operate through social media “are seen spreading propaganda, fake news and also indulging in blackmail of government functionaries in the district”. He also said these platforms interfere with the “smooth running of administrative affairs” and plant “anti-government stories which are largely aimed at maligning the image of the administration and always portraying them in bad light”.

“A large number of district and sectoral officers have complained of harassment at their hands and stated that many self-proclaimed media persons, without carrying any authentic identification, barge into their offices and start recording videos and posting them in various social media groups,” the letter read.

Islam asked the SSP to share a list of such media organisations and journalists.

Additionally, the magistrate also asked the district police to “to verify the antecedents and source of funding of all so called journalists who operate these illegal portals without any qualification and authorisation from the competent authority”.

According to the Indian Express, president of Ramban’s Working Journalist Association, Mohammad Taskeen Wani, agreed with this decision and said this had been a long-pending demand of the association. Wani said he had written about it to the police and the J&K department of information and public relations, but no action had been taken.