A petition asking the authorities to create and implement comprehensive guidelines and advisories for aviation-related media reporting in order to prevent premature or speculative statements until official investigations are finished was dismissed by the Madras high court on Thursday.
The Public Interest Litigation filed by attorney M Pravin was dismissed by the first bench, which was composed of Chief Justice M.M. Shrivatsava and Justice Sunder Mohan. Pravin argued in his appeal that it was common knowledge that news outlets, social networking sites, and online middlemen usually release unsubstantiated information that criticizes and places the blame on pilots following aircraft mishaps.
Their reputation and professional opportunities are harmed by this practice, which also compromises their mental health and sense of dignity. According to him, one such occurrence happened after the June 12, 2025, aircraft disaster, which resulted in the widespread dissemination of speculative media allegations blaming the flight crew for the incident while the inquiry was still ongoing.
According to him, on July 14, 2025, he sent a representation to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Directorate General of Civil Aviation, and Ministry of Civil Aviation. According to him, the representation asked for institutional protections, such as providing media outlets with advisories, enforcing confidentiality procedures pertaining to pilot identities and the results of preliminary investigations, and developing content moderation standards for digital platforms in accordance with the IT Rules.
He continued by saying that the authorities have not yet taken any meaningful action in spite of the seriousness of these issues and the public interest concerned. He claimed that the presumption of innocence and the fundamental right to privacy and dignity protected by Articles 14, 19, and 21 of the Constitution are violated when pilots are prematurely blamed for aviation mishaps.
He stated that the integrity of fair and just media reporting in our digital age as well as aircraft safety are seriously threatened by the authorities’ delay and failure to implement adequate regulatory protections.