News Tamil Nadu

Sun News Peddles Fake News Once Again: Distorts TRAI’s New Telecom Guidelines, Spreads Misinformation On Recharge Plans

December 25, 2024
The Commune

The ruling DMK’s family-owned news channel, Sun News, often seen as the party’s mouthpiece, has once again come under scrutiny for spreading misleading narratives. This follows the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)’s announcement mandating telecom providers to separate data packs from voice and SMS recharges, with implementation required within a stipulated timeframe to benefit citizens. However, Sun News distorted TRAI’s intent and promoted a narrative suggesting the move would impose an additional burden on consumers, using a distorted news card to spread this misinformation.

India’s telecom regulator, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), has recently amended tariff rules, requiring mobile service providers to introduce recharge plans exclusively for voice calls and SMS without including Internet data. Announced on Monday, the updated regulations aim to cater to consumers who do not use mobile data, offering more tailored options. Additionally, the validity of special recharge coupons has been extended from the current 90-day cap to a maximum of 365 days.

This move is expected to significantly benefit segments of India’s population, such as the estimated 150 million 2G users, dual-SIM owners, elderly individuals, and residents in rural areas. The new rules allow consumers to pay only for the services they use, avoiding unnecessary expenses on unused data.

TRAI emphasized the importance of this change, citing data from telecom operators indicating that around 150 million subscribers still depend on feature phones, highlighting the demand for non-data-specific recharge plans. “The service provider shall offer at least one Special Tariff Voucher exclusively for Voice and SMS with a validity period not exceeding three hundred and sixty-five days,” stated TRAI in the Telecom Consumers Protection (Twelfth Amendment) Regulations, 2024.

In this context, the DMK’s mouth piece, Sun News, on 23 December 2024, published a misleading news card stating, “TRAI puts in a fix (Vachaan Paaru Aapu!) TRAI orders telecom companies to introduce separate recharge plans for call and SMS services within the next 30 days.” By distorting the actual facts and misrepresenting the intent of the directive, the report appeared to be crafted with a malicious agenda to undermine the credibility of TRAI and create a negative perception through deliberate wordplay.

This misinformation was swiftly debunked, with netizens calling out and criticizing Sun News for spreading false narratives.

One netizen of the netizen said, “Misinformation: The plan is for customers with Button Phones who do not use data.”

Another netizen urged the central government to take action against the spread of misinformation, stating, “@Murugan_MoS .. Sir, still this Dravidian dog spreading fake news.. When you will going to take action against for that!?.. Other wise anti modi will spread again.. Pls do kind action for this.”

Another netizen explained, “TRAI mandated separate recharge for voice & SMS ALL recharge, while its an added option for benefit of consumers who dont use Data. Previous recharge options will still be available!” 

Another netizen slammed the news channel and said, “Fake narrative”

After the misinformation spread by Sun News, some netizens believed that TRAI had imposed additional charges on customers and expressed their frustration without verifying the facts. Below are a few examples of such comments.

This is not the first time Sun News has been caught spreading misinformation. In February 2024, they falsely claimed that the Tamil Nadu government was contributing 70% to the PMAY scheme. However, Tamil Nadu BJP President K. Annamalai quickly debunked this claim with factual information, leading to the news being deleted.

In January 2024, a video of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin’s hands trembling during the inauguration of the Chennai Sangamam festival went viral, sparking rumors about his health. Sun News deleted the original clip which showed the trembling hands of the CM and shared an edited clip that removed the footage of Stalin’s trembling hands. The original video was deleted sparking netizen curiosity.

In December 2023, in the wake of the floods in Tamil Nadu, Sun News spread fake news regarding Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statements in a press conference on 22 December 2023. The outlet claimed that Sitharaman stated Tamil Nadu flood damages couldn’t be declared a national disaster. However, Sitharaman had made no such statement, instead, she said that there was no practice of declaring state disasters as national disasters. 

In November 2023, Sun News propagated misinformation, suggesting that the online gambling law applied uniformly. Contrary to this, the Madras High Court ruled on a series of writ petitions filed by the All India Gaming Federation and online gaming companies. The court upheld the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Online Gambling and Regulation of Online Games Act, 2022 but specified that it only applied to “games of chance” and not skill-based games like rummy and poker. The court also affirmed the state government’s authority to regulate online gaming aspects.

Sun News posted a video on social media platform X in September 2023 quoting Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party President K Annamalai’s speech during his En Mann En Makkal yatra. Annamalai was speaking about the lack of electricity at the Marudhamalai Murugan temple. The incident that Annamalai quoted at his yatra mentions how it was Chinnappa Devar popularly known as Sandow MMA Chinnappa Devar was instrumental in getting an electricity connection for the Marudhamalai Temple in Coimbatore. Sun News posted the video with the question, “Was DMK in power in 1962?” and shared a photo of the engraved inauguration stone mentioning MGR and Chinnappa Devar, trying to prove that they fact-checked the claim and it turned out to be wrong. 

In September 2021, Sun News, through its official handle had put a news card in which it claimed that BJP workers collected garbage at the Besant Nagar beach on the occasion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday and left the collected garbage in bags in the beach itself. However, BJP Tamil Nadu Youth Wing President Vinoj P. Selvam clarified that the garbage collected was taken in a corporation vehicle.

In June 2021, A tampered video of an elderly Muslim man being assaulted was shared widely which was also shared by Sun News saying that his beard was forcibly cut for not chanting ‘Vande Mataram’ and ‘Jai Shri Ram’. However, this fake news was busted.

In April 2021, Sun News peddled fake news about people dying due to a lack of oxygen supply at the Corona Special Ward of Vellore Government Hospital.

Such biased fake narratives created by Dravidian journalists favoring the ruling government while portraying the opposition in a negative light have become increasingly common in the state, turning the public into pawns in their political games.

Subscribe to our channels on Telegram, WhatsApp, and Instagram and get the best stories of the day delivered to you personally.