NBDSA asks all broadcasters to take 'due care' in choosing tickers and thumbnails

The News Broadcasting and Digital Standards Authority has issued an advisory to all broadcasters highlighting that tickers and thumbnails should conform to the actual version of the discussions /interviews.

Said advisory has been issued by the NBDSA while acting on a complaint filed against a broadcast aired on Times Now Navbharat in September last year.

The complaint was filed by one Indrajeet Ghorpade in respect of the impugned news report, which carried the following thumbnail text: "1) 'अवैध Masjid' पर Mahilaon ने मुसलमानों पर खुलकर सब बताया ! (Women openly tell everything about illegal mosque) 2) Musalman ladke hume... Jummeh ke din toh..."

Notably, the reporter interviewed 4 women about a mosque in Shimla and asked questions like: "Has the number of Muslims visiting the mosque increased? Do women feel safe compared to earlier? What is the change in the mahaul with the rise in population of Muslim persons in Shimla? Kya darr ka mahaul hai?"

None of the four women who were interviewed expressed that they themselves had experienced any kind of safety incidents from the people visiting the mosque or from the Muslim community in general.

"The thumbnail text gave the impression that Muslim men were harassing women, though it was not so stated by the women interviewed. Thus, this was not only misleading but also not in the interest of communal harmony", Chairperson Justice (Retd.) AK Sikri noted in his order from June 6, 2025.

Observing that in many programme broadcast, due care is not taken in choosing the tickers and thumbnails, which give a distorted version of the actual narratives of the discussions/interviews and that the tickers and thumbnails should conform to the actual version of the discussions /interviews, the NBDSA has directed the broadcaster to edit/remove the thumbnail from video of the impugned broadcast, if still available on the website of the channel, or YouTube, which should be confirmed to NBDSA in writing within 7 days of the Order.