SUPREME COURT: HATE SPEECH ON TV CHANNELS NOT TO BE DEALTH WITH FIRMLY

The Supreme Court on Wednesday criticized TV channels and said it is the duty of an anchor “to see that hate speech does not continue when one starts”, NDTV reported. Justice KM Joseph made these observations while hearing a batch of petitions on hate speech.

During the hearing, Justice Joseph said that the freedom of the press is important. He referred to noisy debates on news channels and said, “TV content is for the benefit of the listener, how will they make up their mind when voices are heard.”

Justice Joseph said, “They are not being dealt with strongly. They can be taken off air, fined, if such sanction comes… any anchor will have his own views and will not be divorced from the channel’s business lines. What is wrong that the invitees are not being allowed to express their views, are being silenced or thrown down. His authority is less than the listener,” he said. Commenting on why the audience likes hate speech, the court said, “There is a layer of hate speech. Just like killing someone, you can do this in a number of ways, slowly or otherwise. They bind us to certain beliefs. ,

On the hate speech issue, Justice Joseph also asked why the government was a mute spectator. “The government should not take the stand of protest but should help,” the court said. The next hearing of the case will be on November 23.

Written By: Karan Suri

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