Journalists in India have expressed alarm at plans by the state government in Maharashtra to set up a ‘media monitoring’ centre that will keep tabs on news coverage related to the authorities across print, electronic, social and digital mediums.
Details contained in a published Government Resolution said the monitoring body will classify news as either ‘positive’ or ‘negative’ using artificial intelligence.
“In the guise of controlling the spread of misinformation and mistaken reporting, this move amounts to imposing a regime of surveillance,” the Mumbai Press Club said in a statement.
“With no definitional clarity, there’s a real danger of any criticism of the government and its policies being dubbed as negative information and further conflated with misinformation. Thus every criticism or critical reporting can be conveniently labelled as misinformation,” it said.
“Moreover, such a classification of news as negative and positive can be seen as an attempt to profile and target the voices critical towards the government. It is also an act of not-so-subtle messaging to the media to refrain from publishing so-called negative information. This implies an intrusion into the media’s role of reporting the reality as it is, whether it be construed as negative or positive by the powers that be.
Fear of censorship
“An even deeper flaw with this scheme is the government assuming the role of arbiter of truth to itself. We would like to remind the government of Maharashtra that a similar attempt by the union government to amend IT rules to form a Fact Checking Unit to identify “fake and false” content against the government on social media platforms, has been struck down by the Bombay High Court. The grounds for striking it down were the infringement of the right to freedom and the fear of a “chilling effect” amounting to censorship.”
The Committee to Protect Journalists has urged the Maharashtra state authorities to consult with journalists and media groups to ensure that the plan does not undermine press freedom.
“Maharashtra state’s AI-driven media monitoring plan raises serious concerns about press freedom and the potential for government overreach,” said CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Beh Lih Yi.
“The government’s intention to monitor and pursue media outlets producing news that the government classifies as ‘negative’ could increase the risk of self-censorship and deter journalists from investing in critical reporting. The Maharashtra government must commit to protecting press freedom and come clean about the purpose and scope of this plan.”
