Attend: Panel Discussion on the legal framework on disinformation & fake news (June 5)

The Society for Advancement of Criminal Justice at the National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata is a student-run society that is aimed to foster discourse in the area of contemporary legal topics, especially those allied with criminal law & the criminal justice system through guest lectures, webinars, workshops, panel discussions and conclaves.

About The Event

At these times, when our entire country is fighting a battle against the Pandemic, one thing which is constantly posing a threat to weaken this fight is the dissemination of false & fabricated information through various mainstream media and social media channels.

This has become further important in light of current political discourse which has compelled each one of us to deliberate on laws revolving around free speech, censorship and media regulations.

To create an accommodative environment for such discussion & deliberation, the SACJ is organizing a grand Panel Discussion.

This discussion will take place on 5th June 2021, i.e. Saturday from 3:30 pm onwards on Zoom besides being streamed live on the Youtube Channel of SACJ which can be accessed at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTPPL4hJw5sCXI6RsIUzGkA/featured

In this discussion, we aim to foster an academic atmosphere where different stakeholders concerning this theme come together to deliberate on critical issues around media freedom & Fake News and engage with the law students, legal academia and common citizens.

We believe that a discussion on such a significant and relatable aspect of our lives in the present times would be helpful for all of us in developing a well-informed mindset towards the news and information that we consume across various social media and news platforms.

To achieve this aim, we very proudly introduce our panellists from across the legal, political and media background who will share their views on this fundamentally contemporary issue.

The invited guests for the panel discussion are as follows:

1) Mr Yashwant Sinha: Mr Yashwant Sinha is the Vice-President of All India Trinamool Congress. Besides being a former officer at Indian Administrative Service, he has also held the portfolios of Union Cabinet Minister for Department of Finance and Department of External Affairs under the government headed by Prime Minister Chandra Sekhar and Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. A recipient of the highest French civilian distinction of Officier de la Légion d’Honneur, Mr Sinha was associated with the Bhartiya Janta Party till the year 2018.

2) Mr Manish Tewari: Presently, a Member of Parliament from the Indian National Congress representing Anandpur Sahib in the 17th Lok Sabha, Mr Tewari has donned many hats. He is an eminent lawyer practising at the Supreme Court of India, an author who has authored books like Decoding a Decade, Tidings of Troubled Times, Fables of Fractured Times and a columnist who regularly contributes articles on issues of energy security, national security and nuclear disarmament. However, what makes Mr Tewari's presence in our Panel more important is he being the former Union Cabinet minister for Information & Broadcasting under the Manmohan Singh government and thus enabling us to get perspectives of a policymaker regarding the issues of media regulation & disinformation.

3) Mr Pratik Sinha: Mr Pratik Sinha is the co-founder and editor of Alt News, a platform that has been in the high limelight recently. A former software engineer, Mr Pratik Sinha is also. also a member of Jan Sangharsh Manch, a civil liberties organisation based in Ahmedabad.

4) Mr Paronjoy Guha Thakurta: Mr Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, a senior independent Journalist has extensively covered Media freedom and fake news in his career which has now spanned almost 45 years. Mr Thakurta has authored books like Media Ethics, Sue the Messenger: How legal arm twisting by Corporates is shackling reportage and undermining democracy in India and was also the member of sub-committee set up by the Press Council of India to look into the malaise of Paid News.

5) Mr Shivam Shankar Singh: Mr Singh is the author of the book - "How to Win an Indian election: What political parties don't want you to know". He did his Bachelors in Economics from the University of Michigan and has played an active role in Political campaigns. He has served as a Political Consultant & Data Analyst in the Bhartiya Janta Party and has also been associated with the Indian Political Action Committee. Currently, he is an advisor to https://www.ourdemocracy.in/, which is India's largest political crowdfunding platform and also writes for several news outlets like Caravan, the Print, the Times of India etc..

6) Mr Ashish Goel: Mr Ashish Goel is an advocate at the Supreme Court of India and has been in practice there for more than 8 years. An alumnus of NUJS from the batch of 2012, Mr Goel is also the former Convenor of the Society for Advancement of Criminal Justice and held the post from 2010 to 2012. He has pursued his LLM from Kings College, London. He also worked in the Law Chambers of a former Union Law Minister Mr Ashwani Kumar on matters before the Indian Supreme Court and the Delhi High Court and now Ashish regularly writes on issues surrounding Criminal Laws, Constitutional Law and International Law.

In this regard, we cordially extend our invitation to everyone to come forth and join us in the Panel Discussion on the above-mentioned date. We assure you that a healthy & accommodative environment for sharing your views & opinions through questions will be available for all.

The registration form for the event can be accessed at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfDeMaH5XpIGUTPEJUg9vyuiNW23tk0hfjEeTN_sSaWk_fzZQ/viewform.

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