Search
START TYPING AND PRESS ENTER TO SEARCH

ExploreFree Speech TrackerTrack Violations across Categories, States & Years

Browse the Database

The Free Speech Tracker is a database that records free speech violations in India across various categories. Tracked violations can be searched across categories, states or years. Categories covered include Arrests, Attacks, Censorship, Harassment, Internet Control, Killings, Lawfare, Policies/Regulations, and Threats.

Please visit the About Us page for a guide to free speech violations tracked by FSC,

Numbers are liable to change and violations may be reclassified in case of discrepancies in reporting or updates due to developments in ongoing cases. In case of updates or corrections and to report free speech violations, please contact us.

[Note: The data included currently is for 2025 as updates for previous years is under process. For details of previous years, please go to the Reports section.]

Violations

States

Year

Reset

Threats

Singer Nilotpal Bora threatens to smash journalists’ cameras, later downplays responsibility

State: Assam

Year: 2025

Date: September 29, 2025

Threats – Journalists

Singer Nilotpal Bora was caught on camera threatening to break journalists’ equipment—saying he would “smash any camera I see inside”—and urging media to be driven out. When reporters confronted him afterward, he offered a dismissive remark that appeared to downplay his earlier threat. The incident has drawn criticism from the press and raised concerns about intimidation of journalists.

Read More

Killings

‘Threatened after reports’, missing Uttarkashi journalist, Rajeev Pratap Singh, found dead

State: Uttarakhand

Year: 2025

Date: September 28, 2025

Killings – Journalists

Ten days after he went missing, the body of journalist Rajeev Pratap Singh was recovered from a barrage in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi district on Sunday.

Superintendent of Police Sarita Dobhal said the postmortem report was awaited to confirm the cause of death. “Prima facie, his car fell into a gorge and into the river, which had swelled during the time of the incident. We had found CCTV footage from a few minutes before the incident, showing him alone in the car,” she told The Indian Express.

Pratap, 36, an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, ran a Facebook page called Delhi Uttarakhand Live, which focused on local issues. His family has alleged that he had received multiple threats to take down his recent reports.

Read More

Lawfare

Wangchuk held under NSA, flown from Leh to Jodhpur as Govt cracks down

State: Ladakh

Year: 2025

Date: September 26, 2025

Lawfare – National Security, Others

Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, who has been spearheading the movement seeking statehood and protections under the Sixth Schedule for Ladakh, was detained under the stringent National Security Act (NSA) by the police in Leh on Friday. His wife said he has been taken to a jail in Jodhpur.

The development comes days after the Centre accused him of instigating the violent protests that broke out in Leh on Wednesday, which ended in the death of four individuals in police firing. Fifty people were also injured.

The following day, the Centre revoked the FCRA license of the Students’ Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh, founded by Wangchuk. The CBI has also initiated an inquiry into the Himalayan Institute of Alternatives Ladakh, which he runs, for alleged FCRA violations.

Read More

Attacks

Journalist from NMF News, Sumit Tiwari, attacked during protest coverage

State: Uttarakhand

Year: 2025

Date: September 25, 2025

Attacks – Journalists

A reporter from NMF News, Sumit Tiwari, was attacked while covering a protest by the ‘Berozgar Sangathan’ at the Parade Ground in Dehradun.

According to Sumit, he had come from Noida along with cameraman Umakant Upadhyay to cover the protest. While they were asking questions, some people present at the protest abused them, manhandled them, and even threatened to kill them. They also threatened to damage their vehicle.

The police personnel present at the site intervened and rescued the reporter and his cameraman. Sumit has filed a complaint at Dalanwala Police Station, demanding legal action against those responsible.

He also mentioned that he has video footage and photographs of the incident which will be given to the police as evidence.

Read More

Threats

NMA advisor Rosemary Dzüvichü reports ‘death threat’ over women’s reservation advocacy

State: Nagaland

Year: 2025

Date: September 23, 2025

Threats – Others

Advisor to the Naga Mothers Association (NMA), Rosemary Dzüvichü, has reported receiving a death threat on the evening of September 23. The message was reportedly directed at her “and young and old feminists who have stood for women reservation.”

The threat was reportedly received through a post on a private Facebook group called “Unified Naga Land for Christ.”

In a social media post, Dzüvichü wrote: “Received a death threat message meant for me on a Facebook Naga group a few hours ago. A warning to me and young and old feminists who have stood for women reservation.”

However, she stressed that such threats would not deter her or Naga women from advocating for their rights.

 

Read More

Censorship

Protests over ‘I Love Muhammad’ signboards in Gujarat; 17 held, 88 booked

State: Gujarat

Year: 2025

Date: September 22, 2025

Censorship – Protests, Social Media

In the wake of ‘I Love Muhammad’ protests across the country, the Gujarat police arrested 17 persons and registered cases against more than 80 others for allegedly vandalising a police station in Godhra. The detained men, tied with ropes and visibly injured, were publicly shamed, struggling to walk.

On Saturday, September 20, his supporters staged a protest after Jhabha alleged that he was assaulted while in custody.

The incident followed tensions in the town after local social media influencer Zakir Jhabha was summoned by the police for posting Facebook post holding an ‘I Love Muhammad’ signboard.

While Godhra police were unavailable for comment, local media reported that Jhabha was called in only to prevent communal unrest over his post.

Online discourse, however, has largely focused on the treatment of those arrested and the public nature of their humiliation. While the group of demonstrators is reported to have allegedly vandalised the police station and set official documents on fire, the manner in which they were paraded during their arrest has drawn criticism and is being viewed as a form of public shaming.

Read More

Censorship

13 news publishers ordered to remove posts on Adani group

State: Applicable Across India

Year: 2025

Date: September 16, 2025

Censorship – News Media/ Documentaries

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting ordered 13 news publishers to remove allegedly defamatory content about Adani following a Delhi court ruling.

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on Tuesday issued a takedown notice to 13 news publishers on YouTube and Instagram after a Delhi civil court earlier this month restrained multiple journalists and activists from publishing allegedly unverified and defamatory reports against the Adani group and ordered the removal of any such content already published.

Journalists and media publishers received a list of 138 URLs of YouTube videos and 83 Instagram links which are to be taken down. A copy of the ministry’s order was sent to Google and Meta, which own YouTube and Instagram, respectively, according to the order seen by HT. HT did not receive a response from both companies. The ministry’s order includes names of journalists, media houses, and creators, including Newslaundry, Ravish Kumar, Dhruv Rathee, The Wire, Abhisar Sharma, Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, HW News, and Aakash Banerjee’s The Deshbhakt.

Read More

Censorship

I&B Ministry Orders Takedown of 138 Videos, 83 Instagram Posts About Adani Using Ex-Parte Court Order

State: Applicable Across India

Year: 2025

Date: September 16, 2025

Censorship

The Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on Tuesday (September 16) sent notices to two media houses and a number of YouTube channels ordering them to take down a total of 138 videos and 83 Instagram posts that mentioned the Adani Group.

These orders, the ministry stated in a letter dated Tuesday, was based on an ex parte order issued by the the North West Delhi district court on September 6 in a defamation case filed by Adani Enterprises.

The court had told a number of journalists and activists including Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, Ravi Nair, Abir Dasgupta, Ayaskant Das and Ayush Joshi to take down articles and social media posts that allegedly defamed the Adani Group.

An ex parte order is issued when some parties to a case – in this case the journalists and activists involved – are not heard.

Those who received notices from the information and broadcasting ministry on Tuesday, however, are not party to that case.

The Wire too has been served this notice on Tuesday, for a solitary Instagram post that referred to allegations levelled by the US Securities and Exchange Commission against the Adani Group, which are matters of record.

Read More

Lawfare

Kerala Police File FIR Against Journalists, Activists Who Gathered to Protest Crackdown on Media

State: Kerala

Year: 2025

Date: September 13, 2025

Lawfare – Journalists, Others

On September 13, a group of journalists, activists and advocates gathered in Kochi, Kerala, to voice their concerns about the increasing crackdown on journalists and their arbitrary arrests. The meeting was organised as part of an ongoing campaign to demand the release of 26-year-old Kerala-based journalist Rejaz M. Sheeba Sydeek, who was arrested by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on May 7.

However, shortly after the meeting, the Kerala Police took the very actions the group had been protesting against, registering a case against the event’s organisers and speakers.

Despite having proper permission to hold a public event, the Kochi Police booked them under several sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Kerala Police Act for “unlawful assembly” and “for obstructing police from performing their duties”. The most peculiar of all the charges, however, is that of “threatening, obstructing, or assaulting a police officer with the clear intention to prevent them from performing their duties” – a claim that the organisers have explicitly denied.

Those named in the FIR are journalists Siddique Kappan, Ambika, Baburaj Bhagavathy and Mrudula Bhavani; activists Niharika Pradaush, Dr. Hari, Shaneer, C.P. Rasheed, Sajid Khalid, V.M. Faisal; and advocate Pramod Puzhangara.

Read More

Censorship

Congress accuses TRAI of censorship in blocking SMS link to Maharashtra election ‘fraud’ documentary

State: Applicable Across India

Year: 2025

Date: September 7, 2025

Censorship – News Media/Documentaries

The Indian National Congress on Sunday alleged that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) rejected its application to send SMS messages containing a link to a YouTube documentary titled “How the MH 2024 Election Was Stolen,” citing the content as “related to protest.”

The opposition party described the move as part of a coordinated government effort to suppress information, labeling it a “telltale sign of guilt” over alleged fraud in the 2024 Maharashtra assembly elections.

Praveen Chakravarty, Chairman of the Congress’ Data Analytics Department, revealed that the party sought to disseminate the documentary link to its Maharashtra cadre via SMS, following standard government procedures by applying for TRAI approval.

However, the application was denied on grounds of it being ‘protest content.’

Read More

Showing 1-10 of 210 results