TheCongress has alleged that the government has subverted Parliament in bringingnew social media rules to muzzle the voices critical of the governmentpolicies.
Addressinga press conference in New Delhi on Thursday, party spokesperson SupriyaShrinate raised questions about the minutes of GoM meetings which have beenleaked in the media. She said, "Government Communication report hasrevealed some very very disturbing facts. There were five Union CabinetMinisters including Smt. Smriti Irani, Shri Prakash Javadekar, Shri RaviShankar Prasad, Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Shri S Jaishankar and of course, fourother Ministers of state, who were a part of this."
"Itis absolutely certain that at the time of corona, when the entire worldincluding all of us were standing rock solid with the Government and hopingthat the Prime Minister is thinking about our lives, our livelihood, he wasthinking about how to sort out this crisis, he was actually preparing to stabus in the back by first compromising the freedom of speech and expression inthe country by first controlling free press, "she added.
Shequestioned certain journalists whose names are doing the rounds: "It lookslike some from the press/media became party to this, I sympathise with them.don't know if it happened, because they were caught unaware? I don't know if ithappened with their consent. But, I think it is important that they come outand make their positions clear, because this does raise questions on thecommitment to being a part of media. And media is just not another job, mediais for a reason called the fourth pillar of our democracy."
TheCongress spokesperson said the IT rules 2021 announced a few days back by RaviShankar Prasad and Prakash Javadekar, seem to have taken a lot of these suggestionon board. So, this does raise questions.
"WillParliament make laws or will laws be made by Ministers sitting in drawing roomswith consultations and under the guidance of pliant mediapersons ever willingto serve the Modi Government? "