The Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has warned TV channels against showing video footage of blood and gore, violent and distressful visuals in the name of viral footage taken from social media sites.
In a circular, the I&B Ministry has cautioned TV channels to refrain from showing distressful visuals that have violent and gory content.
Ministry of I&B cautions TV channels against broadcasting disturbing footages, distressing images. Gory images of blood, dead bodies, physical assault are distressful, against Programme Code. No editing being done of violent videos being taken from social media by channels. pic.twitter.com/TZQyY6U0pE
— ANI (@ANI) January 9, 2023
The order stated that media channels should exercise caution while showing images or videos of accidents and violent crimes. The Ministry noted that recently, several instances of dead bodies, blood-splattered crime scenes and footage of people, including women, children and the elderly being beaten mercilessly have been aired on national TV channels. It cited the instances of the ‘viral video’ of a child beaten by his teacher, which was aired on a loop, without blurring the image or showing long-distance shots.
The ministry also stated that the manner of commentary and reporting in many such cases has been distasteful and distressing for the audience.
The Ministry stated that such visuals, without the necessary warning and blurring, can be quite distressful for the audience and can have an adverse psychological impact on children, not to mention the crucial issue of violation of the privacy of the individuals involved.
It added that television is a platform that is watched by families in a household with people from all age groups and various socio-economic backgrounds. It noted that social media videos are being taken and broadcast without necessary editorial discretion and adherence to the programme code.
The Ministry of I&B listed some latest instances where TV channels have blatantly violated the program code. The list is as follows:
1. 30.12.2022 showing distressing images and videos of a cricketer injured in an accident, without blurring.
2. 28.08.2022 showing disturbing footage of a man dragging the dead body of a victim and also focusing on the face of the victim with blood splattered around.
3. 06-07-2022 about a distressing incident in which a teacher can be seen brutally thrashing a 5-year-old boy until he lost consciousness in a coaching classroom in Patna, Bihar. The clip was played without muting it in which painful cries of the child begging for mercy can be heard and was shown for over 09 minutes.
4. 04-06-2022 showing the distressing gory images of the dead body of a Punjabi singer without blurring.
5. 25-05-2022 showing a disturbing incident of a man brutally beating two minor boys with a stick in the Chirang district of Assam. In the video, the man can be seen mercilessly beating boys with sticks. The clip was played without blurring or muting in which the boys’ painful cries are clearly heard.
6. 16-05-2022 where a woman advocate was brutally assaulted by her neighbour in the Bagalkot district of Karnataka, showing continuously without edits.
7. 04-05-2022 showing a man hacking his own sister to death in Rajapalayam, Virudhunagar district of Tamil Nadu.
8. 01-05-2022 about a man being hung upside down from a tree and brutally thrashed with sticks by five people in the Bilaspur district of Chhattisgarh.
9. 12-04-2022 about an accident in which distressing visuals of five dead bodies are continuously shown without blurring.
10. 11-04-2022 about an incident where a man can be seen brutally attacking his 84-year-old mother in Kollam, Kerala, dragging his mother through the yard beating and thrashing her mercilessly shown continuously without blurring for approximately 12 minutes.
11. 07-04-2022 about a highly disturbing video of an old man setting his son ablaze in Bengaluru. The unedited footage of the old man lighting a matchstick & throwing it on his son upon which he was engulfed in flames was telecast repeatedly.
12. 22-03-2022 about a video of a 14-year-old minor boy being beaten in Morigaon district of Assam, carried without blurring or muting in which the boy can be heard crying and pleading while being beaten mercilessly.
