Journalists in Jammu and Kashmir have spent the past eight months navigating an intense crackdown by Indian authorities in the region, including unprecedented restrictions on communications and the longest internet shutdown in a democracy. Now, they have the added challenge on trying to report on the COVID-19 pandemic. India has instituted a strict 21-day national…
New Delhi, April 2, 2020—Police in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh should immediately withdraw criminal complaints against Siddharth Vardarajan, editor of news website The Wire, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The police opened a criminal investigation into Vardarajan on accusations of spreading discord, enmity, and rumors during the COVID-19 lockdown, according to…
New Delhi, March 6, 2020 — The Indian government should immediately lift the 48-hour ban imposed on Malayalam-language news channels Asianet News and MediaOne TV, and must stop arbitrarily censoring coverage of sensitive topics, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Also available in हिंदी में and اردو میں Demonstrations are continuing across India following the introduction of the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in December 2019, as reported by The Guardian. Violence has escalated with at least four people killed yesterday, and at least 10 people killed and over 150 injured today, according to news…
New York, February 24, 2020 — Bharatiya Janata Party officials must cease inciting online harassment against journalist Arfa Khanum Sherwani, and Indian authorities should ensure that threats against journalists are taken seriously, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
In the summer of 2019, Saroj Giri was preparing a lecture on the panopticon—an 18th century system to surveil an entire prison from a single viewpoint—when a message lit up his phone. It was from WhatsApp, warning Giri that someone had tried to hack the popular messaging app to spy on his cell phone remotely.