A Reconsideration of the Possibility and Permissibility of Propagating Lies according to Imamiah Jurisprudence

Today, the act of propagating lies in the media as the major institution of displaying the Islamic Government positions has surpassed its previous simple character. Therefore, by a mere reference to jurisprudential texts that deal with issues concerning personal interactions by discussing the above problem and even heretical concepts, we cannot reach a definition of the pertinent religious rules and a comprehensive jurisprudential analysis especially in the field of the media. This article intends to respond to challenging areas in regard to propagating lies as one manifestation of forbidden acts in the field of media and tries to prove some hypotheses: 1- Propagating lies through news media and in public domain is permitted exclusively in compelling circumstances and is not permitted for solving group's and partie's relations, or for Muslim's interests, or deceiving the enemies provided it confuses the public mind. 2- All media production whether news or non-news could be bearers of lies. 3- Spreading dubious news is permitted in some cases. 4- Some exaggerations in media should not be confused with propagating lies.