PIL in SC to curb spread of fake news

New Delhi, Apr 24: A PIL has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking directions to the Centre to issue guidelines to curb the spread of fake news leading to social stigmatisation, boycott of certain communities and communal disharmony in states and UTs at the time when the country is facing COVID-19 pandemic.

The plea filed by three lawyers referred to alleged discrimination of Muslims in the backdrop of fact that some persons hailing from Tablighi Jamaat have been found to be 'super spreaders' of novel coronavirus in the country.

The plea, which made ministries of health and family welfare and home affairs as parties, also alleged that citizens from north-eastern states have been discriminated against as they morphologically resemble natives of China, the country from where this deadly virus spread to the other parts of the world.

"Viruses and bacteria do not discriminate, but society does. Societal structures shaped by oppressive structural forces of communalism, casteism, racism and patriarchy render certain sections vulnerable. The existing social schisms in society are widened during crisis situations like that of Covid-19 pandemic. This renders the already vulnerable population of race, religious, caste and sexual minorities, etc to even greater threat of being socially boycotted and ostracised resulting in essential services including healthcare inaccessible to them," said the plea filed by lawyers, Aanchal Singh, Disha Wadekar and Mohammad Wasim.