Sun News owned by DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran’s brother Kalanithi Maran, which functions as the media mouthpiece of the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government, is back at spreading fake news again. They shared a post on social media platform X that the online gambling law is applicable.
#BREAKING | ஆன்லைன் சூதாட்ட தடைச் சட்டம் செல்லும் – சென்னை உயர்நீதிமன்றம் அதிரடி தீர்ப்பு!#SunNews | #TamilNaduGovt | #MadrasHighCourt pic.twitter.com/9XmRHqbu4s
— Sun News (@sunnewstamil) November 9, 2023
In actuality, on 9 November 2023, the Madras High Court declined to strike down the entire Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Online Gambling and Regulation of Online Games Act, 2022. However, it ruled that the Act would only apply to “games of chance” and not games of skill like rummy and poker. This decision came in response to a batch of writ petitions filed by the All India Gaming Federation and several individual online gaming companies challenging the law’s constitutional validity.
In response to a series of writ petitions filed by the All India Gaming Federation and various individual online gaming companies challenging the constitutional validity of the law, the First Division Bench, led by Chief Justice Sanjay V. Gangapurwala and Justice P.D. Audikesavalu, issued a partial judgment. They rejected the plea to declare the entire Act unconstitutional but invalidated the schedule of the Act, which encompassed games like rummy and poker. The Bench clarified that Section 2(l)(4) of the Act should be interpreted as applicable to games of chance, excluding games of skill such as rummy and poker. Additionally, the Bench noted that the State government had the authority to regulate the timing and age restrictions for online game players.
பொய் செய்திகளை பரப்புவதை வாடிக்கையாக வைத்திருக்கும் சன் நியுஸ். ஆன்லைன் ரம்மி மற்றும் போக்கர் விளையாட்டுக்கு திமுக இயற்றிய சட்டம் பொருந்தாது என்று சென்னை உயர்நீதிமன்றம் இன்றைய தீர்ப்பில் குறிப்பிட்டுள்ளது.
இந்த 2 விளையாட்டை தடை செய்ய தான் சட்டமே கொண்டு வந்தது திமுக.… https://t.co/eLjWZSloax pic.twitter.com/hwDOxFIPxO
— Krishna Kumar Murugan (@ikkmurugan) November 9, 2023
Other Fake News And Half Truths Peddled By Sun News
In April 2021, Sun News had peddled fake news about people dying due to lack of oxygen supply at the Corona Special Ward of Vellore Government Hospital.
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.
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.
Very recently, Sun News posted a video on social media platform X 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 a 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.
(With inputs from The Hindu)
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