NEW DELHI: Less than 24 hours after introducing a plan to crack down on fake news, the Indian government on Tuesday reversed its decision on the controversial proposal that many billed as an effort to curb media freedom.

On Monday, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry amended its guidelines for the accreditation of print and broadcast media personnel.

Under the amended rules, if a complaint was received against a journalist for publishing or propagating fake news, his or her accreditation would be immediately suspended while the Press Council of India, for print media, or the News Broadcasters Association, for electronic media, investigated the allegations.

If found guilty, the journalist’s accreditation would be suspended for six months for the first violation, for a year for a second violation, and cancelled permanently for a third, the guidelines stated, without offering any definition of fake news.

Currently, only print and TV journalists are eligible for accreditation, which is carried out by the government’s Press Information Bureau. The ministry has reportedly also drafted regulations for digital broadcasting and news portals.

At present, accreditation gives journalists access to government offices and official events, including media briefings with Cabinet ministers.

In an increasingly common practice, only accredited journalists are allowed to attend even routine press briefings.

A government-accredited journalist also gets discounts on train fares and a Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) card, which guarantees free treatment in certain hospitals.

Siddharth Varadarajan, founding editor of online news organization The Wire, wrote that the new rules, if implemented, would have placed media outlets “at the mercy of trolls, bureaucrats and politicians,” and would have strengthened “the already visible trend of self-censorship when it comes to politically sensitive stories.”

It would have made editors “even more squeamish about stories that reflect badly on the ruling establishment than they already are,” he said.

Veteran journalist Shekhar Gupta, who is editor-in-chief of online media start-up The Print, tweeted that it was “a breathtaking assault on mainstream media.” All media should “bury their differences and resist this.”

Ahmed Patel, a member of the upper house of Parliament, asked on Twitter: “What is guarantee that these guidelines will check fake news or is it an attempt to prevent genuine reporters from reporting news uncomfortable to establishment?”

Following the government’s withdrawal of the plan, Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani tweeted that her ministry is “more than happy” to engage with journalist bodies and organizations “wanting to give suggestions so that together we can fight the menace of ‘fake news’ & uphold ethical journalism.”