The FreeSpeechCollective, comprising journalists, lawyers and activists, aims to protect the right to freedom of expression and to vigorously promote free speech and the right to dissent. We monitor and document violations of free speech, debate issues and analyse major developments that impact Freedom of Expression. We also seek to provide solidarity and support to those who face attacks on their freedom of expression.
Ranjeet Soni, 46 years old, was shot dead in broad daylight at around 5 pm on June 2, 2022. He was shot in the back of the head at point blank range within the premises of the office of the Public Works Department (PWD), Vidisha just outside the […]
The arrest of journalist and co-founder of the fact-checker site Altnews, Mohamed Zubair, on Monday, 27 June 2022, barely a day after the arrest of journalist and anti-communalism activist Teesta Setalvad, is a chilling indicator of the state of free speech in India. Till date, at least nine […]
Enacted by MeitY in May 2021, the Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code Rules 2021.sought to both protect ‘digital Indians’ from the harms of Big Tech intermediaries and regulate the work of online publishers….They have been challenged in nineteen separate cases across the country—with specific portions stayed by multiple High Courts. A common cause for concern: they exert a chilling effect on free speech in India.
Four journalists covering the Agnipath protests in Patna were detained by police after one of them, Amir Hamza, was roughed up and shoved by a police officer. Hamza, a journalist working with a newschannel on Youtube ‘The Activist’, was arrested and is yet to get bail. Of the […]
Republished from The Leaflet with permission Hate speech vitiates the very purpose of free speech, which is the free and fearless operation of a human mind that constantly seeks answers and the truth, says Ujjaini Chatterjee Contemporary Indian democracy is at a threshold of its constitutionalism. Amidst the […]
On World Press Freedom Day , May 3, 2022, this special focus from Free Speech Collective on journalists who are in jail. Download link available below:
On May 3, on the eve of World Press Freedom Day 2022, we present FEAR OF SPEECH A short film by students of Whistling Woods International, the film, communication and creative arts institute located in Mumbai, India, done in association with Free Speech Collective. Ziva, a young journalist, […]
On April 20, 2022, a bail application filed by journalist Siddique Kappan comes up for hearing in the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court. Kappan had been arrested by Uttar Pradesh police on October 5, 2020, while he was on his way to Hathras, to cover the […]
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