HC warns digital media to follow code of ethics

Dehradun: Uttarakhand high court said journalists must adhere to a prescribed code of ethics while issuing a strong warning regarding unethical journalism on digital and social media platforms. The court added that failure to do so could invite legal action.A single bench of Justice Rakesh Thapliyal made the remark during the hearing of Himanshu Thakur vs State Govt and others on Feb 12, a copy of which was shared on Tuesday. The court was told that a "media bite" shared by petitioner Himanshu Thakur on social media allegedly tarnished the reputation of complainant Suman Singh, branch manager of SBI Kunda, Kashipur.Singh informed the court that following the media bite, she received repeated WhatsApp messages and departmental action was also initiated, even though the original complaint against her by colleague Umesh Kumar was withdrawn. Singh filed a case against Thakur under IPC section 308 (extortion) on Feb 2, after which Thakur approached the HC to quash the FIR.Singh's counsel highlighted the Norms of Journalistic Conduct, 2010, pointing specifically to clauses 2 and 3, which mandate pre-publication verification and caution against defamatory writing. The court was informed that these norms were allegedly ignored by Thakur before circulating the media bite, and no attempt was made to verify the allegations with Singh or Kumar.On this, the HC observed, "If it so, then it appears to be in complete violation of the Rules, 2021, particularly clause 2 of the Norms of Journalistic Conduct of the Press Council of India." The case has been listed for the next hearing in six weeks.