Accusations of fake news should be subject to rigorous validation through transparent legal process
KATHMANDU/April 30: In a dramatic development in Nepal, Sidhakura.com, an online news portal, published a series of investigative reports. On April 26, the Press Council of Nepal (PCN) sent a letter to Sidhakura asking to remove contents within 24-hours. On April 29, the Supreme Court (SC) issued the same order, instructing Sidhakura to scrap all of the contents within 24 hours.
On April 26, 2024, Sidhakura.com (www.sidhakura.com/), an online portal, published a news titled THE DARK FILE series in the early morning at 6:02 am about the involvement of high-profile people in the corruption of NPR 22 million, including two major private media owners i.e. Kailash Sirohiya and Rameshwar Thapa, who operate Kantipur Media Group and Annapurna Media Network respectively.
In response to the separate applications filed by Sirohiya and Thapa on the same day, PCN immediately issued a letter directing Sidhakura to remove the news within 24 hours and provide clarification to the PCN. Both Sirohiya and Thapa have called the audio fake, totally for propaganda purposes and doctored tape, and have demanded strict actions against Sidhakura.
In the meantime, speaking with Media Action Nepal, Sidhakura.com Executive Editor Nabin Dhungana stated, “While following our sources and lead, Sidhakura received audio of a ‘high profile’ people, including judges, lawyers, and two media owners. We obtained the audio through a secret ‘sting operation,’ which can be assumed to have bought the constitutional bench of the Supreme Court with a bribe of approximately Rs 22 million to dismiss more than 400 cases of corruption. The 21 minute long audio uploaded by Sidhakura (now removed) revolves around the same incident that occurred in Tinkune, Kathmandu, with clear pronouncements of amounts and names.”
However, the PCN, a media regulatory body, sent us a letter on April 26 through an email at 5 p.m. in the evening saying that after monitoring the news broadcast through your media, it has been seen that biased material was transmitted for character assassination and dehumanization, Dhungana added. Similarly, the letter issued by PCN to Sidhakura reads, journalists and the media must transmit truth, facts and balanced news content; they must not act against the professional dignity of journalism with the intention of unfairly benefiting or harming anyone; they must not transmit news in a way that discriminates against anyone or causes hatred on any basis; and they must not make any invisible use of any technology.
Sidhakura also published a special editorial (removed following the SC order) against the PCN letter, arguing that they are confident on their sources and requested the state apparatus be serious about the protection of sources, do a fair investigation, and put the perpetrators behind bars.
Media Action Nepal also objects to the Press Council of Nepal’s decision to issue an order to remove the news within 24 hours and mark it as false or misleading as soon as it appears. In the meantime, on April 29, the Supreme Court (SC) in Nepal directed www.sidhakura.com to remove the objectionable content within 24-hours from its website and social networking sites.
In response to a suo moto contempt of court case against the publisher and editor of the news portal for publishing defamatory content, a divisional bench of justices Nahakul Subedi and Tek Prasad Dhungana issued the order. The court also ordered the defendants not to produce, broadcast, or re-broadcast any other content related to the case until a final verdict is delivered. The bench directed executive editor Nabin Dhungana and publisher Yuvaraj Kandel to appear before the court at 10:00 am on May 2 to make a statement.
Additionally, the Inspector General of Nepal Police has also been directed to probe into the factual and technical aspects of the audio-visual material within within a 15-day period. Should it be determined that the current criminal law has been broken, the Inspector General of Nepal Police is to take appropriate action and report back to the court.
Hours before the Supreme Court’s order, on April 29, the news website removed all relevant content. According to a letter from Press Council Nepal, all contents have been suspended while the study and investigation process proceeds, the news website stated.
Prior to this, Deputy Registrar of the Supreme Court, Govinda Prasad Ghimire, filed a contempt of court petition on April 28 against Yuvaraj Kandel, the publisher of Sidhakura.com, and Nabin Dhungana, the executive editor, accusing them of disseminating “false news” about the SC on their website and YouTube channel.
Ghimire claimed that the report from Sidharkura.com obstructed the administration of justice and that the authors of the news, false, and misleading report should be held in contempt of court under Article 128(4) of the Constitution and Section 17(1) of the Administration of Justice Act. Article 128(4) of the Constitution of Nepal stipulates, “All shall abide by any interpretation of the Constitution or a law made by or any legal principle laid down by the Supreme Court in the course of hearing a lawsuit. In case anyone makes obstruction in the dispensation of justice or disregard any order or judgment handed down by it or any of its subordinate courts, the Supreme Court may, in accordance with law, initiate proceedings of contempt and impose punishment therefor.” Ghimire demanded that everyone involved in the broadcast of the same news report face contempt of court charges.
Observing these all sudden developments, Laxman Datt Pant, Chairperson of Media Action Nepal commented that any attempts by regulatory and judicial bodies should be based on established legal frameworks. Already disappointed with the PCN directives, Pant commented about the recent Supreme Court (SC) order, “The SC validating PCN directives and instructing journalists to take down news articles is deeply concerning.” Any accusations of fake news must be subject to rigorous validation through fair and transparent legal process and it should not be used as a pretext to suppress independent journalism, Pant added.
The SC validating PCN directives and instructing journalists to take down news articles is deeply concerning. Any accusations of fake news must be subject to rigorous validation through fair and transparent legal process and it should not be used as a pretext to suppress independent journalism.
Taking to social media, the chair of Digital Freedom Coalition and an advocate, Babu Ram Aryal, questioned, “I have reservations about the Supreme Court’s Order on removal of the contents without any test or fact-check. A blunder on freedom of expression. I also have reservations about a similar order from the Press Council of Nepal. I even have reservations about the press releases from the Nepal Bar Association, the Supreme Court Bar Association, and the Judges Society.” How did all these institutions know the Dark Files was fake news? A dark era in the making? We should follow constitutionalism. However, this is entirely unconstitutional drama happening in Nepal, he added.
Similarly, Bhanu Bhakta Acharya, a media expert, stated that in Sidhakura’s ‘The Dark File’ case, Supreme Court repeated similar instructions issued by the Press Council. “When a question about news is raised, it should be investigated, the audio/video lab tested, and the conclusion reached through a transparent process. If the news is incorrect, not only should it be removed, but strict action should be taken in the case of defamation. However, if the judge, or even God, comes and orders you to remove that news, that is against the principles of free press,” said Acharya.
When a question about news is raised, it should be investigated, the audio/video lab tested, and the conclusion reached through a transparent process. If the news is incorrect, not only should it be removed, but strict action should be taken in the case of defamation. However, if the judge, or even God, comes and orders you to remove that news, that is against the principles of free press.
In featured photo Yubraj Kandel (left) and Nabin Dhungana (right). Photo courtesy: Sidhakura.com
