Misleading content on LGBTQIA+: NBDSA rebukes India Today

Noida: In a case of misrepresentation of the LGBTQIA+ community, Indian broadcaster India Today was rebuked by the News Broadcasting and Digital Standards Authority (NBDSA). The body found that the media house used visuals and images of the LGBTQIA+ community "totally out of context", The News Minute reported.

The body also published a list of guidelines for media to adhere to while broadcasting content in the community. It asked the News Broadcasters & Digital Association (NBDA) to circulate the same among media outlets.

The case that prompted the authority to take action is based on a complaint by LGBTQIA+ rights advocate Indrajeet Ghorpad over a programme broadcast by India Today titled "Nudity sparks outrage at USA pride parades - How India's LGBTQ+ lead responsibly." According to the complainant, the show violated the principles of accuracy, neutrality, objectivity, good taste, decency, and others.

NBDSA issued its order on February 28. It said that it had received many complaints regarding the portrayal of the community.

Indrajeet's complaint alleged that the India Today programme was full of inaccuracies and intended to spread fear as well as demonise LGBTQIA+ people. The show was supposedly about a pride march in the US, but the visuals were not really from there but from another event hosted by the White House.

In the video, the photo of three topless people was shown, which the programme anchor describes as "indecent exposure" and claims that three persons were "banned from events after they posed topless". Following that, the White House also issued an apology, the programme claims. However, according to Indrajeet, the three were transpersons who were showing their top scars, and it was not indecency under DC (District of Columbia) law. He added that the three were not charged, either.

Further, he said that another nude image featured by the programme was not from the event but an old photo. He said that it's an old picture of Canadian nudists, which homophobic people share every Pride Month to create hate and fear.

He contended that when a simple reverse image search would have helped in separating facts from fake news, India Today is either incapable of fact-finding or had mala fide intentions.

In the case, NBDSA observed that the broadcaster used visuals and images totally out of context, which was not part of the incident covered, which was a violation of the principle of accuracy as enshrined under the Code of Ethics and Broadcasting Standards. It ordered the broadcaster to edit the programme to delete objectionable content or remove the entire video from its website.