The Ministry of information and broadcasting pulled up private news channels on Saturday for hosting debates and allowing participants to spread communally provocative and derogatory remarks.

The ministry issued an advisory to TV channels to caution them against inciting communal disharmony and disturbing peace at large, reported ANI.

The advisory read, “It has been observed that some channels broadcast debates with unparliamentary, provocative and socially unacceptable language, communal remarks and derogatory references which may have a negative psychological impact on viewers and may also incite communal disharmony and disturb the peace at large.”

The ministry further took a note of the coverage around the Russia – Ukraine war and the recent incidents of violence in Northwestern Delhi and highlighted the violation of laws and norms.

It stated in the advisory, “It has been found that in the recent past several satellite TV channels have carried out coverage of events and incidents in a manner which appears to be unauthentic, misleading, sensational and using socially unacceptable language and remarks, offending good taste and decency, and obscene and defamatory and having communal overtones, all of which appear to be violative of the programme code.”

The ministry also said that regarding the Russia – Ukraine conflict, channels have been making false claims and often misquoting international agencies and actors.

“Use of 'scandalous headlines/taglines' that are completely unrelated to the news item... Many of the journalists and news anchors of these channels made fabricated and hyperbolic statements intending to incite the audiences,” the advisory further read.

Furthermore, the ministry flagged issues like provocative headlines and videos of violence regarding the recent incidents in Northwestern Delhi that had the potential to incite communal hatred and disrupt peace and law and order.

“Disrupting the ongoing investigation process by playing scandalous and unverified CCTV footage, showing footage of a specific community thus aggravating the communal tensions, fabricated headlines sensationalising and giving communal colours to the actions of authority,” are some of the issues raised by the government over the coverage of Northwestern Delhi incidents.