Fake news has increased, media’s impartiality should be ensured: Supreme Court judge
Senior Supreme Court judge Justice DY Chandrachud has said that it is the duty of the intellectuals of the society to expose the “lies of the state”. Justice Chandrachud made these remarks in an online lecture on the topic ‘right of citizens to speak truth to power’ on Saturday morning.
Justice Chandrachud said, “In a democracy, states (governments) cannot lie for political reasons.” He said that only the state cannot be trusted for truth. Therefore, the enlightened people of the society should expose the lies of the governments. “One-party governments are known for their constant reliance on lies to consolidate power,” he said.
Justice Chandrachud said, “In the times of COVID, we are seeing that the practice of manipulating COVID data is increasing in countries across the world.” He also targeted fake news and said that today the trend of fake news is increasing. The senior judge said that the WHO had identified it as ‘infodemic’ during the COVID pandemic. He said that the fairness of the media should be ensured.
He said that humans have a tendency to be attracted to sensational news, which is often based on lies. Justice Chandrachud said, “Social media like Twitter is dominated by lies. People not being worried about the truth is another phenomenon in the post-truth world.”
He said, “There is a competition between ‘our truth’ versus ‘your truth’ and the tendency to ignore the truth is not in line with the notion of truth. ‘Seeking the truth’ should be a prime aspiration of the citizens. Our motto is ‘Satyamev Jayate’. We should be ready to question the state and experts. It is the duty of the intellectuals of the society to expose the lies of the state.”
