Censorship – News Media
“That reporting now needs prior permission, and is guided by district authorities is a worrying measure of our democracy. ” Sabah Gurmat’s account of government attempts to restrict access and control narratives of violence and administrative failure in Haldwani is disturbing. Republished from Article 14 with permission. “We’ll figure something out. But please sports shoes pehenkar aana, notebook-bag […] Read More
The Indian government’s over-sensitivity towards adverse global media coverage just found another target: a french journalist with an OCI card ! In a surprising move, the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Indian government issued a notice to French journalist Vanessa Dougnac to cancel her Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card, citing “malicious” and “biassed” […] Read More
On Thursday, Jan 4, 2024, journalist Shyam Meera Singh faces a court in Delhi to decide whether his Youtube programme “How Gurmeet Ram Rahim fooled his Bhakts?” should be taken down, pending hearing of a civil defamation case filed by the chief of the religious order, the Dera Sacha Sauda. The case comes up before […] Read More
Even as the bail application of Kashmir Walla editor Fahad Shah comes up before the Jammu and Kashmir High Court on August 25, the news portal’s website has been blocked and all its social media platforms have also gone blank. In a statement, Kashmir Walla’s team of journalists said that: On Saturday, August 19, 2023, […] Read More
What is the state of media freedom in Kashmir after the abrogation of Art.370 on Aug 4, 2019? On the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, 2023, here is a glimpse – culled from articles, reports and research papers published in Free Speech Collective from August 8, 2019 till date: Fahad Shah PSA case quashed, […] Read More
by Geeta Seshu High irony indeed, but a public meeting on a media blackout in Kashmir was literally blacked out by Delhi police. The Campaign Against State Repression, a loose coalition of over 35 organisations representing students, workers and civil society, organised a public meeting on “Media Blackout and State Repression in Kashmir” on March […] Read More
Part II One of the biggest casualties of the administration’s massive crackdown against journalists Kashmir is that many important stories remain hidden or half-told. There are hardly an investigative stories of the disempowered, issues related to environment, global warming, climate change, gender, child rights and civil liberties. What are these stories? Why have they been […] Read More
Part I Jism par qaid hai jazbaat pe zanjeerein hainFikr mehboos hai guftaar pe taazerein hain (With caged bodies and chained emotionsImprisoned are our thoughts and utterances censored) This verse from Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s epic poem, Chand Roz Aur Meri Jaan, encapsulates the individual tragedy of an ordinary Kashmiri and also the collective tragedy of […] Read More
What are the Emergency powers that have allegedly been invoked to block tweets and videos on Youtube relating to the BBC documentary “India: The Modi Question”? According to this report by NDTV, the “The centre has ordered Twitter and YouTube to take down links of a BBC documentary on the 2002 Gujarat riots and Prime […] Read More
Additional Sessions Judge Devendra Kumar Jangala of the Delhi District Court granted bail to AltNews co-founder Mohammed Zubair and said that “free speech is the proper foundation of a democratic society.” Zubair was arrested on June 27, 2022 after an First Information report was registered against him by Delhi police on June 20 after a […] Read More
On May 3, on the eve of World Press Freedom Day 2022, we present FEAR OF SPEECH Ziva, a young journalist, fears that dissent has slowly become criminal in Indian democracy A short film by students of Whistling Woods International, the film, communication and creative arts institute located in Mumbai, India, done in association with […] Read More
The Pegasus revelations have struck a body blow to privacy rights of citizens. In India, the government continues to be in denial over the purchase of spyware. The Supreme Court of India is hearings petitions filed by individuals who were targeted by surveillance and by organisations working on digital freedom and civil liberties. Free Speech […] Read More
Political cartoonists keep the system honest. They chip away at the hubris of those in power by laughing at them. Read More
The Bombay High Court has quashed an FIR against journalist Prateek Goyal alleging trademark violation in an article filed in Newslaundry on the decision of the Sakal group in Pune to sack over fifty staffers of the Sakal Times. The court held that mere use of the registered trademark of the Sakal Media Group in […] Read More
The rising incidence of gag orders by various powerful accused men in sexual assault and harassment cases has been of immense concern, especially because of the manner in which it shields them and further victimises the victims/complainants in these cases. A statement from the Network of Women in Media, India, draws attention to this and […] Read More
Justice Madan Lokur, former justice of the Supreme Court of India, delivered the Verghese Memorial Lecture 2020 on “Preserving and Protecting our Fundamental Rights – Freedom of Speech, Expression and the Right to Protest.” Justice Lokur said that one of the worst forms of curtailment of the freedom of speech is charging a person with […] Read More
What happens when police try to derail a press conference by protesting villagers? The Goa Union of Journalists (GUJ) hosts it, a day later! According to a press statement by GUJ, the press conference started in Melauli on July 8, 2020, ended in Panaji more than a day later. The villagers had been protesting a […] Read More
Republished from Newsclick The government of India wants the media to stop creating panic by disseminating fake news about the ongoing crisis before first ascertaining from it ‘true’ and ‘factual’ information. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court stated that it does not intend ‘interfering’ with ‘free discussion’ while directing the media to ‘refer to and publish […] Read More
A newly elected Opposition in Parliament says media freedom is shrinking. What has changed? The five-year period of 2014-2019 has seen an explosion of media creation and media use in India. The Indian public sphere is increasingly mediated not just by conventional media—TV, print, online, and radio in the hands of a few—but by technology […] Read More
The Executive Editor of Kashmir Times Anuradha Bhasin has filed a petition in the Supreme Court to demand the The petition sought directions to immediately relax all restrictions on mobile, internet and landline services and the strict restrictions on freedom of movement of journahsts and media personnel in Kashmir and some districts, of Jammu in […] Read More
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