In an effort to “neutralise” the negative narrative, a Group of Ministers (GoM) of the Union government, formed to fine-tune the “government communication”, has come out with various suggestions, including tracking “50 negative and 50 positive influencers” on the social media and to “neutralise the people who are writing against the Government without facts and set false narratives / spread fake news”.

Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani, Information and Broadcasting (I&B)Minister Prakash Javadekar, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju, Urban Development Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur and MoS in the Environment Ministry Babul Supriyo were part of the GoM, which met six times between June 14 and July 9 last year.

It emerges that the decisions on capping 26% of the FDI (foreign direct investment) for the digital media and the new IT rules that have a separate section dealing with code of ethics for the Over The Top (OTT) platforms such as Netflix were result of the GoM’s deliberations. The FDI cap was essential the GoM felt, to constrict the foreign influence on the Indian media.

The GoM report quotes suggestions made by various ministers.

Prasad for preparing list

Mr. Prasad, suggested, “A list of media personnel and prominent persons, who are pro our line of thought – both nationally and globally, should be prepared. Few eminent academicians, Vice Chancellors, retired Indian Foreign Service officers etc should be identified who can write our achievements and project our viewpoint.”

Ms. Irani, who held the I&B portfolio in the previous Modi government, recommended, “We should track 50 negative and 50 positive influencers.” The suggestion has been accepted by the GoM and the I&B Ministry has been given the charge to implement it.

Mr. Javadekar felt that the government overall should learn from Prime Minister Modi to communicate with the common man. On the negative narrative, he said, “The narrative is fuelled by around 20-30 people. The lines keep changing many times on a single day.”

Naqvi for direct action

Mr. Naqvi suggested direct action against those writing against the government. “We should have a strategy to neutralise the people who are writing against the Government without facts and set false narratives / spread fake news,” he had advised.

Among other action points recommended by the GoM include enlarging the Prasar Bharati News Service into a “main line news agency”. Among the long- term agreed strategies include “coordination with schools of journalism as present students are the future journalists.”

Mr. Puri told the GoM that the journalists who are supportive of the government, even if they are now unemployed, should be roped in. As per the report, this suggestion would also be acted upon.

Mr. Thakur wanted the BJP and the Modi government to reach out to right-wing parties across the world to arrive at a common ground.