Digital media rules empower Indian government to censor online news
Digital news sites in India are on edge and expecting the worst after the government promulgated news rules in February, bringing them under regulation and further endangering the environment for press freedom in the country. The rules, in essence, give the government powers to censor website content, with little chance for appeal. In interviews with…
Journalists fighting fake news during Indian election face threats, abuse
The six-week-long voting period in India’s national and provincial elections concluded this week, with results expected on Thursday, according to news reports. For journalists, the campaign has brought a familiar deluge of online abuse.
In India, tax officials raid offices, home of Quint editor-in-chief and Modi critic
Officials from India’s Income Tax Department on October 11, 2018, raided the home of journalist Raghav Bahl and the offices of The Quint, in Noida, where Bahl is editor-in-chief, and The Newsminute in Bengaluru, a news website that Bahl has a minority stake in, according to media reports. Government officials told Press Trust of India…
Weight of legal cases and threats leave India’s journalists feeling exposed and alone
The media is in the worst state India has ever seen. That is how several journalists described the current climate in dozens of conversations with CPJ during a trip to Mumbai, Bangalore, and Delhi earlier this year. While the threats they outlined–political pressure, self-censorship, defamation suits, and attacks–are not a new phenomenon in India, many…