'Surge of misinformation, propaganda under BJP'

There has been a surge of misinformation and disinformation in the country in the last three and half years of the BJP regime, senior journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta said on Tuesday.

"The emergence of information technology and social media is blurring the line between true and false, imagination and reality. There is a surge of misinformation and disinformation in the country in the last three and half years," he said at a seminar "Freedom of Speech My Right" organised by Bengali daily Ganashakti, the organ of the Communist Party of India-Marxist.

He said there was also a lot of propaganda about the steps taken by the current central government that is determining the definition of right and wrong.

"For instance, if you have not liked demonetisation, it is implied that you surely have black money. If you are not a supporter of surgical strike, you are certainly anti-national," he said.

Referring to the controversy over BJP chief Amit Shah's son's company after online portal, The Wire's resport, he said said the way entire government backed him is alarming, noting that "it was an article written out of information provided by the government of India".

Thakurta, the former editor of Economic and Political Weekly, also wondered how Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not utter a single word about the killing of journalist Gauri Lankesh in Bengaluru.

Coming down heavily on a section of media, he accused them of acting as the "lapdog" of the regime instead of being the "watchdog" of society.

--IANS

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