Free Speech

BBC के बाद NEW YORK TIMES का मोदी पर धमाका, Anurag Thankur Vs NYT Controversy on Kashmir Reporting https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DusME3-O8s0

Modi’s Final Assault on India’s Press Freedom Has Begun  https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/08/opinion/india-kashmir-modi-media-censorship.html March 8, 2023 By Anuradha Bhasin Since he took power in 2014, Mr. Modi has systematically debased India’s democratic ideals, bending courts and other government machinery to his will.

The media stands as one of the last remaining institutions capable of preventing India’s descent into authoritarianism. But if Mr. Modi succeeds in introducing the Kashmir model of information control to the rest of the country, it won’t be just press freedom that is at risk, but Indian democracy itself.

References in this article: ‘Vendetta’: Kashmir newspaper’s office sealed by India officials https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2020/10/20/vendetta-kashmir-newspapers-office-sealed-by-india-officials ‘

Snoop List Has 40 Indian Journalists, Forensic Tests Confirm Presence of Pegasus Spyware on Some  https://thewire.in/media/pegasus-project-spyware-indian-journalists

India has highest number of journalists murdered for their work: CPJ report  https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/current-affairs/101221/india-has-highest-number-of-journalists-murdered-for-their-work-cpj-r.html

Under Modi, India’s Press Is Not So Free Anymore   https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/02/world/asia/modi-india-press-media.html India’s government has pressured advertisers

How the Centre’s planned IT rule changes will empower it to censor unfavourable news https://scroll.in/article/1042179/how-the-centres-planned-it-rule-changes-will-empower-it-to-censor-unfavourable-news draft rules that would require intermediaries such as Twitter and Facebook to remove any post that is tagged as “fake news” by the Union government’s information dissemination wing, the Press Information Bureau.  The proposed changes “seem to give the government a carte blanche to determine what is fake or not with determination to its own work”, the Editors Guild of India said 

The Jammu and Kashmir government has given itself unbridled powers to take action against journalists and media houses over “fake reports,” https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/05/world/asia/india-pakistan-kashmir-jammu.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/26/world/asia/kashmir-internet-shutdown-india.html

Panopticon of fear and rumours: Inside Kashmir’s media centre during lockdown  https://www.newslaundry.com/2020/02/05/a-panopticon-of-fear-and-rumours-inside-kashmirs-media-centre-during-lockdown  The only place to go online during the valley’s communications blackout, the government’s media centre was where journalists and their journalism were cut down to size.
ByRayan Naqash05 Feb, 2020

https://lawbeat.in/amp/top-stories/top-court-issues-notice-plea-filed-against-orders-restricting-internet-speed-2g-jammu-kashmir The plea filed by Private Schools Association J&K,says "given the grave impact that internet slowdowns have on the future of students and other ordinary citizens in the region, terrorism cannot become a ground to indefinitely restrict the internet especially without a formal state of emergency being declared, and without considering the suitability and necessity of existing internet restrictions when compared to less restrictive alternatives."

Jammu and Kashmir Media Policy 2020: A Veil Covering Freedoms  https://ohrh.law.ox.ac.uk/jammu-and-kashmir-media-policy-2020-a-veil-covering-freedoms/  The policy states that – “DIPR shall examine the content of the print, electronic and other forms of media for fake news, plagiarism and unethical or anti-national activities. Any individual or group indulging in fake news, unethical or anti-national activities or in plagiarism shall be deempanelled besides being proceeded against under law.” 

‘Remnant of Colonial-Era Censorship': J&K Parties Decry New Media Policy https://thewire.in/media/jks-new-media-policy-threatens-legal-action-against-fake-news-stopping-of-govt-ads The Jammu and Kashmir government has given itself unbridled powers to take action against journalists and media houses over “fake reports,”

Crackdown on Journalists Is the New Normal in Kashmir  https://thewire.in/media/summoned-raided-censored-crackdown-on-journalists-is-the-new-normal-in-kashmir
In two years, more than 40 journalists in Kashmir have either been called for a background check, summoned or raided; they are being forced to present themselves to explain their stories, social media conduct and other societal behaviour. 

https://freepresskashmir.news/2023/02/04/kashmiri-journalist-fahad-shah-completes-one-year-in-jail/ three journalists from Kashmir Fahad Shah, Asif Sultan and Sajad Gul are among five journalists of India who are currently facing detention under various sections of the law, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said on December 8, 2022.Journalists, Siddique Kappan of Kerala and Manan Dar of Kashmir, who were also mentioned in CPJ report, were released on bail recently

https://cpj.org/2022/01/two-journalists-detained-in-jammu-and-kashmir-chhattisgarh/

https://institute.aljazeera.net/en/ajr/article/1974

https://cpj.org/2022/09/an-open-air-prison-kashmiri-journalists-on-how-travel-bans-undermine-press-freedom/

https://www.news18.com/news/india/shujaat-bukhari-latest-addition-to-long-list-of-journalists-killed-brutally-in-jammu-kashmir-1779089.html

https://globalfreedomofexpression.columbia.edu/cases/bhasin-v-union-of-india/

https://countercurrents.org/2020/10/kashmir-times-office-sealed-in-srinagar/

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/02/india-demolitions-in-kashmir-must-be-immediately-halted-and-those-affected-compensated/

https://www.greaterkashmir.com/todays-paper/front-page/state-land-worth-rs-24058-cr-retrieved-srinagar-admin-takes-down-influential-who-grabbed-state-land-with-bulldozer-stroke

https://www.meity.gov.in/writereaddata/files/Revised-IT-Rules-2021-proposed-amended.pdf

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/14/world/asia/india-bbc-tax-raid.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/24/world/asia/india-democracy.html

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/modi-is-abusing-govt-machinery/articleshow/56881176.cms

 FIR against Neha Rathore, questions asked to PM modi on Pahalgam Terrorist Attack https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhEog2P7lE8
The Public India Bhojpuri folk singer Neha Singh Rathore faces an FIR in Lucknow for her social media posts questioning PM Narendra Modi and the government's handling of the Pahalgam terrorist attack on April 22, 2025, which claimed 26 lives. Her video, alleging security failures and political exploitation of the tragedy ahead of Bihar elections, went viral, even being shared on Pakistani platforms, leading to accusations of anti-national remarks. Join us as we dive into the controversy, exploring the debate around freedom of expression versus national responsibility. What are your thoughts?

India tops in internet shutdowns globally for the fifth consecutive year: Report
01 March,2023

With more than 800 million internet users, India has the second-largest digital population in the world, after China. The internet connects the country’s remote rural areas with cities

https://www.newsclick.in/india-tops-internet-shutdown-globally-5th-consecutive-year Out of 187 shutdowns across 35 countries last year, 84 were ordered in India, including 49 in J&K, according to Internet advocacy watchdog Access Now.

Full report https://www.accessnow.org/cms/assets/uploads/2023/02/KeepItOn-2022-Report.pdf

Although Access Now counted fewer than 100 shutdowns in India for the first time since 2017, it is “not convinced” that the government has “embarked on the path towards positive sustained change regarding digital rights”.

“Legal challenges against shutdowns, fewer mass protests in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and the sustained and increasing crackdown on dissent may have increased administrative friction or reduced the incentives for authorities to impose shutdowns,” the report adds.

The group also feels all disruptions in India in 2022 weren’t recorded due to the government’s “persistent failure to publicly release shutdown orders in violation of the Supreme Court’s judgment” and the “technical challenges in monitoring, tracking, and recording shutdowns—in particular in communities where shutdowns are an emerging issue”.

‘Hypersensitive’: Bombay HC Quashes FIRs Against Congress Leader Who Criticsed BJP Minister (thewire.in)

To invoke Section 153A of the IPC, the statements must be "judged on the basis of what reasonable and strong-minded persons will think" and not on the basis of the "views of hypersensitive persons who smell danger in every hostile point of view".

 Ruling in favour of a Pune-based Congress worker who staged a protest outside Maharashtra’s higher and technical education minister Chandrakant Patil’s residence, the Bombay high court on Monday observed that the right to express one’s views is a protected and cherished right in India’s democracy and cannot be taken away merely by accusing a person of threatening harmony.

01/03/2023