NBDSA Penalises Times Now Navbharat and News 18 India for Spreading Communal Disharmony; Aaj Tak Warned

TV news programmes have been fined by the News Broadcasting & Digital Standards Authority (NBDSA) for spreading hatred and communal disharmony.

The fines were imposed on Times Now Navbharat and News 18 India, with a fine of Rs 1 lakh and Rs 50,000, respectively. Aaj Tak was also warned. The fines were based on complaints lodged by activist Indrajeet Ghorpade, who cited violations of the Code of Ethics & Broadcasting Standards regarding impartiality, objectivity, neutrality, and accuracy.

The regulatory body found Times Now Navbharat’s anchor, Himanshu Dixit, to have targeted the Muslim community and generalised inter-faith relationships as ‘love jihad’. News 18 India was found guilty for three shows that communalized the Shradda Walker case as ‘love jihad’. Aaj Tak was reprimanded for a programme that generalised acts of violence during Ram Navami as targeting a particular community.