Govt Cautions TV Channels Against Broadcasting Disturbing Videos And Images

The government on Monday (9 January) cautioned all television channels against broadcasting disturbing footages and images.

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting issued an advisory on Monday to all TV channels against "reporting accidents, deaths, and violence including violence against women, children and elderly in manners which grossly compromises on 'good taste and decency'".

The advisory has been issued after several instances of lack of discretion by television channels were noticed by the Ministry, said an official statement.

"The ministry has said that television channels have shown dead bodies of individuals and images/videos of injured persons with blood splattered around, people, including women, children and elderly being beaten mercilessly in close shots, continuous cries and shrieks of a child being beaten by a teacher, shown repeatedly over several minutes including circling the actions thereby making it even more ghastly, without taking the precaution of blurring the images or showing them from long shots," the statement said.

The ministry further highlighted that the manner of reporting such incidents is distasteful and distressing for the audience.

It stated that such reports can also have an adverse psychological impact on the children.

There is also a crucial issue of invasion of privacy which could be potentially maligning and defamatory, the advisory has underlined.

Television, being a platform usually watched by families in households with people from all cohorts – old aged, middle aged, small children, etc., and with various socio-economic backgrounds, place certain sense of responsibility and discipline among the broadcasters, which have been enshrined in the Programme Code and the Advertising Code.

The ministry noted that in most cases the videos are being taken from social media and broadcast without editorial discretion and modifications to ensure compliance and consistency with the programme code.