Press Council urges media to stay away from disinformation on candidates

The Press Council Nepal has urged all media and journalists to stay away from disinformation, blames, misleading information and character assassination of political parties and election candidates.

"Media can get fake news, disinformation and hate speech against political parties and poll candidates. They should always be aware and cautious not to give space for such stuffs or not to side with or go against political parties and election candidates," according to a statement issued by the Council's senior administrative officer and spokesperson Dipak Khanal in the context of the November 20 elections to the House of Representatives and the Province Assembly.

The Council appeals to all media, journalists, institutions working on media and social site users to follow the journalist code of conduct and their professional ethics, and avoid posting or disseminating any status or news reports that would seek votes for a particular party or a candidate contesting in the polls and assassinate their character, reads the statement.

The Council further urged the people to file complaints about such activities at the Council. It further said it had been closely observing whether or not the journalist code of conduct was being implemented, said Khanal.