Image Courtesy: theweek.in

The several hour’s long multi-city raids on the digital media platform The Wire have drawn a string of national and international condemnation of the same

Claws Out, read the Telegraph’s editorial on the raids of editors of The Wire, published on November 4.

            “The men in uniform swooped down after Amit Malviya, at the helm of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s potent social media wing, accused The Wire of running a fake story that had tarnished his reputation: The Wire had alleged that Mr Malviya’s special privileges with Meta had enabled him to take down posts critical of the BJP on Instagram. After allegations of inconsistencies emerged, The Wire suspended access to its stories, conducted an ‘internal review’, and retracted the report. It was subjected to a disproportionate retaliation even though it played by the book.

“This anomaly — targeted punishment even after the media entity owned up to an error and retracted a story — must be one of the enduring features of press freedom under Narendra Modi’s watch. The episode raises an additional — relevant — concern for the media fraternity. News gathering is tricky business, with sensitive information often being obtained from anonymous sources. It is possible that such intimidatory action would — is meant to? — discourage sources from sharing crucial nuggets with the media.

“Of course, the response of the powers that be to The Wire is by no means unprecedented. One of the world’s largest democracies has, earlier, been a mute witness to this government cracking down on a number of media organisations. NDTV suffered the proverbial knock on the door by the taxman, as did Newslaundry. Meanwhile, the news channel, MediaOne, has had its security clearance denied by the Central government without being given reasons — a point that has attracted the attention of the Supreme Court. The consequence of stifling the media is apparent. India has continued to slide on the Press Freedom Index, with the deterioration being marked since the BJP’s assumption of political dominance. Indian democracy’s fate would be contingent on robust checks and balances against such predations on the media. 

Heavy-handed hurry: On The Wire fiasco, read The Hindu’s editorial also dated November 4. adding that while the “Perils of editorial laxity are obvious, but defamation should be decriminalized.”

“What happens when there is a grave lapse in editorial judgment and something false gets published? If the report is against someone who wields influence, and the media institution concerned is a known critic of the Government, the consequences might turn out to be disproportionately severe. Digital publication The Wire finds itself in precisely this predicament after a series of its stories has been discredited due to what it admits is fabricated evidence provided by one of its own consultants. Its reporting relating to the alleged privileges enjoyed by a purported beneficiary of social media giant Meta’s ‘XCheck’ programme — privileges that it claimed included the right to report any post and have it taken down with no questions asked — has turned out to be a major debacle. Amit Malviya, head of the ruling BJP’s national IT department, named as the one who had got an Instagram post removed, has filed a police complaint, alleging a conspiracy by The Wire to harm his reputation through forgery. The Delhi Police, with whom The Wire too filed a complaint against its consultant Devesh Kumar for allegedly perpetrating an elaborate hoax by submitting fabricated digital proof, lost no time in searching the residences of its editors and seizing laptops and phones. Even by the set standards of the present regime in dealing with vocal dissenters, the hurry shown and the seizures made by the police are shocking. The effort seems to be to make an example of The Wire.

“Despite the element of forgery in this case, one cannot dismiss a possible conspiracy to discredit The Wire. Mr. Malviya has limited his complaint to its founders and the journalists whose bylines appeared in initial reports concerning him. Further, the complaint does not name Mr. Kumar, raising a doubt whether this is intentional. The police should not really be investigating the defamation angle, as Supreme Court judgments are clear that prosecution for defamation should only be at the instance of the aggrieved person, and there can be no police FIR. The case highlights the continuing hazard of having defamation on the criminal statute to be exploited by influential state-backed actors rather than a civil remedy to aggrieved individuals. The Court’s refusal to decriminalise defamation does add state power to the armoury of those waiting for occasional lapses in the media. The absence of malice, a key defence in such cases, is quite obvious in The Wire case, as no one would willfully publish a report based on fabricated proof and fake validation by experts under the clear risk of exposure. At the same time, media outlets should acknowledge the perils of the interplay between editorial laxity and confirmation bias in assessing a potential story.

It was the Indian Express’ editorial on November 3, 2022 that was most telling however:

Titled The Wire story and the police raids: A tale of two, it reads:

“Those in power out to delegitimise a free press. And a newsroom that put selfrighteousness above rigour.

“These are challenging times for the independent press, their work an inalienablepart of the citizen’s fundamental right to freedom of expression and the right to know. Across the world, even and especially in settled democracies, fidelity to Constitutional compacts is tested by the weight of popular and populist movements. India is no exception. Governments both at the Centre and in many states have often shown a striking disregard for press freedom. Two years ago, on the watch of a Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress dispensation in Maharashtra, policemen barged into the home of TV anchor Arnab Goswami after the government re-opened an old case — the arrest spectacle was the message. Two months ago, the Income Tax department that reports to the BJP-led Centre raided the Centre for Policy Research, one of the country’s most respected public policy think tanks, and IPSMF, a foundation that supports independent digital media platforms. The police and agencies like the I-T Department, ED and CBI, sometimes act in concert to subdue and intimidate. It is in this setting — of a take-no-prisoners government and an FIR-happy police — that The Wire, a news website, made a grave mistake. And, in the aftermath, self-righteously continues to compound it.

“The saga began with The Wire publishing a story about a take-down of a post on Instagram. Citing purported electronic documents, including internal e-mails and videos, allegedly from Instagram and its parent company Meta, it sought to establish that immunity had been given to the BJP’s IT cell chief Amit Malviya vis a vis his own posts and also special privileges in terms of taking down the posts of others, no questions asked. The story, or stories, unravelled after Meta categorically stated that the “documents” The Wire had relied on were not authentic and “independent experts” trotted out by the website to verify them said they had done no such thing. At this point, along with the lack of journalistic diligence and rigour that the sorry saga exposed, The Wire showed an abdication of responsibility. It apologised, belatedly, to its readers, not to those it had ostensibly called out. On the very day the police filed an FIR on Malviya’s complaint against it, The Wire itself filed a police complaint against its own reporter or “consultant”, who had allegedly supplied the electronic documents that the stories had drawn upon. This last act, of passing the buck to the weakest link, does not just belie The Wire‘s own moral posturing. It raises a significant question: Are The Wire, and others who model themselves on it, mere platforms for unreliable propagandists, or responsible newsrooms and, therefore, accountable for the mistakes that bear their name?

The answer is consequential when those in power seek to delegitimise all questioning media as “presstitutes” to entrench their own top-down, one-way messaging. That The Wire‘s complaint should invite the police to probe its own “consultant” and that it should mirror the language of the FIR filed against it on Malviya’s complaint — “the accused alongwith unknown others” says Malviya; “at the behest of other unknown persons”, says The Wire‘s complaint — is disturbing. The police breached an important red line when it entered The Wire‘s newsroom, seized the electronic devices used by its staffers. In a democracy, a newsroom’s exchanges with the world, many of which are and must remain confidential, the back and forth of honest journalistic practice, need protection. In its effort to distance itself from its own story, The Wire, which to its credit, most recently brought Pegasus to light, breached an important line too. It did not do its job, it blamed everything on a colleague, and, on record, invited the police and the powers in — playing perfectly to the latter’s script.”

Here is what the Editor’s Guild of India said in its statement dated November 2, 2022.

“The Editors Guild of India is extremely disturbed by the manner in which Delhi Police Crime Branch carried out search and seizures at the homes of founding editors and senior editors of the Wire, as well as their office and the newsroom in Delhi, on October 31, 2022. The searches were carried out in a follow up to a First Information Report (FIR), registered in response to a complaint filed on October 29th, by the BJP national spokesperson and head of the party IT cell, Mr. Amit Malaviya, against the news organisation.

“The haste with which the police searches were carried out at multiple locations, is excessive and disproportionate, and in the manner of a fishing and roving enquiry. Further, as per a statement published by the Wire, the police personnel seized phones, computers, and iPads from homes of the journalists, as well as from the office, and no hash value of the digital devices was given in spite of requests made by them.

“This is a serious violation of procedures and rules of investigation. Moreover, digital devices of editors and journalists would have sensitive information pertaining to journalistic sources and stories under work, the confidentiality of which can be seriously compromised in such seizures.

“It must be noted that the Wire has already admitted to serious lapses in their reporting on stories pertaining to Meta with references to Mr. Malaviya. These lapses are condemnable and the reports based on wrong information have since been withdrawn by the Wire. However, these police search and seizures in violation of established rules and in intimidatory manner is also alarming.

“The Guild urges the law enforcement agencies to strictly adhere to rules of investigation in this matter, and to ensure that integrity of sensitive journalistic information is not violated and other on-going work of the news organisation is not obstructed. The Guild further urges the Delhi Police to be objective and impartial in investigating all the complaints filed in this matter, and not use intimidatory tactics in disregard of democratic principles.

Meanwhile here is some international comment:

India: IPI condemns raid on The Wire, site’s top editors, comments IPI stating that, “Searches and equipment seizures, which follow reporting scandal, are excessive and violation of press freedom.

“The IPI global network condemns the raid by Indian police on top editors at the Indian news site The Wire after a complaint by a communications official of Indian’s ruling party.

“On October 31 police in Delhi searched the homes of The Wire editors Siddharth Varadarajan, MK Venu, Sidharth Bhatia, and Jahnavi Sen as well as at The Wire’s offices. The police seized several mobile phones and laptops belonging to the editors.

“The raids are in connection with a news report published by The Wire earlier this month claiming that Amit Malviya, the head of social media for India’s ruling BJP party, had a special arrangement with the social network company Meta under which Meta would remove content upon the BJP’s request. The Wire’s report was later found to be incorrect and based on fabricated documents and the news site later retracted it. It issued an apology to its readers and said it would be conducting a comprehensive review of its editorial processes. Malviya later filed a complaint against the paper’s editors for defamation and forgery, among other charges.

“IPI Deputy Director Scott Griffen condemned the raids and equipment seizures as disproportionate.

“Indian authorities must stop their harassment of The Wire and its editors and return all equipment seized”, he said. “The raids on the news site’s offices and the homes of its editors, as well as the confiscation of mobile phones and other devices which may contain sensitive information related to the journalists’ work, are disproportionate, excessive, and a violation of press freedom.”

“The Wire has already stated that its news reporting in this case was not accurate and has taken steps to address the issue. However, this controversy must not be used as an excuse to intimidate The Wire as one of India’s leading critical news sites.”

“Media rights organizations in India have also condemned the raids. The Editors Guild of India said it was “extremely disturbed” by the raids, which it said were in “violation of established rules” and carried out in an “intimidatory manner”.

Related:

Raids on Wire editors & seizure of electronic devices did not follow law & procedure: PUCL

The Wire’s Intrepid and Pathbreaking Contribution to India’ s Journalism

Raids on The Wire criminalising journalism: DIGIPUB India condemns Delhi police action

Silence is not an option: Journalists to India’s Constitutional institutions

Webinar on rise in Human Rights violations in UP during lockdown

The post Varying Shades of Media Comment: Raids on Wire appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The People’s Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL) has in a statement issued on November 1,  strongly condemned the raids on the residences and office of senior editors of the news portal, The Wire, in New Delhi and Mumbai on October 31 and November 1, 2022 as also the manhandling of advocate, Mr. Shadan Farasat and other staff members of the Wire.  The raids followed a First Information Report (FIR) registered in New Delhi on the basis of a complaint filed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National Information and Technology department in-charge, Amit Malviya. The allegations pertained to cheating, forgery, defamation and criminal conspiracy.  

It is pertinent to note that, a week ago, on October 23, 2022 itself, The Wire formally retracted the story (which is the basis of the complaint by Amit Malviya) after an internal review revealed discrepancies. The retraction was carried as a prominent article in the Wire with the title, “The Wire Retracts Its Meta Stories”. The Wire very clearly candidly and unambiguously explained the reason for the retraction saying, “Given the discrepancies that have come to our attention via our review so far, The Wire will also conduct a thorough review of previous reporting done by the technical team involved in our Meta coverage”. 

The PUCL statement further states that 

“What is shocking is that despite the unambiguous retraction and the public candour accompanying the retraction, the Delhi police have used the complaint filed by Mr. Malviya as an opportunity to register a more sinister FIR involving cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy as a cover to target The Wire and its staff.  

“On the basis of these trumped up charges, the Delhi  Police Crime Branch arbitrarily conducted search and seizure operations at the homes of The Wire’s founding editors, Siddharth Varadarajan, M K Venu and Sidharth Bhatia as well as the deputy editor, Jahnavi Sen and product-cum-business head, Mithun Kidambi, relying on notice under Section 91 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973. The raid at the house of the latter was conducted past midnight at around 2 a.m. on November 1, 2022.  

“Any inquiry or investigation that the Delhi police wished to launch could have been carried out by summoning the Wire’s Editors for an enquiry along with the necessary evidence of their articles. The fact that the Delhi police decided to dramatically raid the residence of Siddharth Varadarajan, MK Venu and others shows that their intention was not to pursue an enquiry but to conduct a witch hunt by making a spectacle of the search. What makes the police’s actions suspect is that hey conducted the search and seizure despite knowing fully about the public retraction of the stories which formed the basis of the criminal complaint, what makes the police action suspect. The intention was clearly to browbeat the Wire’s Editors and to scare other media persons of their fates if they dared to challenge the ruling interests. 

“According to media reports, a total of 16 devices were seized from the office of The Wire. Two phones, a tablet and a laptop from Varadarajan, a phone and a laptop each from Venu, Bhatia, Sen and Kidambi, and two hard disks from the accounts department’s computers were among the devices seized. A reporter’s phone and the computer he worked on at the Wire’s office were also taken away in Delhi. In addition to these devices, the Delhi police also asked the four editors and Kidambi to remove passcodes from their phones and laptops, and to provide passwords to their official and personal email accounts. Three staffers were asked for passwords to their official email accounts while another staff member was told to give passwords to both official and personal email accounts. ”

Editor of the Wire, Siddharth Vardarajan told Sabrangindia that they had opposed the seizure of these devices without providing any hash value (ie numeric value that uniquely identifies data lodged in any device at a particular point of time. The Wire has given objections of this violation of procedure in writing to the Delhi Police contingent and Investigating Officer (IO). 

Meanwhile the PUCL statement noted that the Crime Branch did not follow the requisite procedure as it took away devices from the news portal’s New Delhi office and from the homes of those raided without providing any hash value, i.e., the numeric value that uniquely identifies data lodged in an electronic device at any given point in time.  There are legitimate concerns that absence of a hash value leaves the door open to planting material on the digital devices.  

“The blanket access so taken by the Crime Branch of the information on the devices seized also raises serious privacy concerns and is violative of Article 20(3) and Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. Concerns have been raised time and again on the arbitrary exercise of the powers of search and seizure by the law enforcement authorities of digital devices, especially since the existing legal provisions are highly insufficient and fail to provide any procedural safeguards for the same. The Supreme Court has recently issued notice in petitions filed before it by academics and journalist bodies for guidelines on seizure of digital devices and the matters are currently pending.  Forcing an accused to reveal the password of his or her electronic devices runs afoul of the right against self-incrimination. A Special CBI Court in Delhi has recently come to this conclusion based on an interpretation of the scope of the Supreme Court judgment in `Selvi v. State of Karnataka’.  

“The PUCL has strongly condemned this targeting of The Wire and the arbitrary raids as well as the search and seizure operations carried out by the Crime Branch as nothing but another brazen attempt to intimidate and silence independent media from performing its professional role. It should be pointed out that the current ruling dispensation has been targeting the Wire, and especially founder – editors, Siddharth Varadarajan and MK Venu, because the Wire has been at the forefront of investigative journalism which has repeatedly spoken the truth to power and sought to keep the executive accountable.   

“It is this important work done by The Wire which is the real reason for the raids. We in the PUCL stand with The Wire and condemn what is a blatant attempt to snuff out independent media voices. The PUCL demands that the Delhi police cease this persecution in the guise of a prosecution, drop all charges and return the seized electronic devices seized during the raids back to the people from whom they were seized.”

Related

The Wire’s Intrepid and Pathbreaking Contribution to India’ s Journalism

Raids on The Wire criminalising journalism: DIGIPUB India condemns Delhi police action

Silence is not an option: Journalists to India’s Constitutional institutions

Webinar on rise in Human Rights violations in UP during lockdown

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At a time when large sections of the Indian traditional media, such as television channels and print media have succumbed to brute executive pressure as well as government handouts, a handful of independent media portals have emerged keeping the flag of independent investigative reportage and incisive comment flagging. Among these The Wire stands firm and tall. 

Lest we forget The Wire’s unique contribution, Sabrangindia has put together this crucial listicle. Coming a day after the Delhi Police’s Multi city raids and seizures on this platform we believe this is crucial as a mark of solidarity.

Siddharth Varadarajan, Sidharth Bhatia and MK Venu founded The Wire in 2015 amidst a new political atmosphere when independent journalism was the need of the hour. Over the years this news portal has won accolades for its work owing its brave and courageous journalism.

Courageous Journalism

In the many instances of The Wire’s firebrand journalism and stories that dig deep include its coverage of Uttar Pradesh government’s COVID response during the second wave, its coverage of the Rafale deal controversy involving Reliance Infrastructure, story on PSUs investing in Adani’s LNG projects as well as rise of Jay Shah and his businesses since BJP came to power.

UP government

In January 2021, the UP Police registered an FIR against The Wire for publishing a story on the claims made by the family of Navreet Singh, the farmer who died during the tractor rally on Republic Day. Police forces in various BJP-ruled states had registered cases against journalists who reported on the farmers’ rally that was carried out on Republic day as a mark of protest against the three controversial farm laws (the laws were later withdrawn by the government).

The story had carried allegations made by the deceased farmer’s grandfather that a doctor had informed the family at the time of the autopsy that Singh died due to a bullet wound as against the claims made in the post mortem report that he died due to a head injury due to falling off the tractor.

The Pegasus reveal

The biggest reveal of 2021 was the ‘Pegasus’ story. A deadly software developed by Isreal’s NSO group sold only to vetted governments allowing them to effectively take remote control of a smartphone and all its contents and functions, once deployed. The Wire was one of the members of the international media consortium known as the ‘Pegasus Project’ which had many seasoned journalists who had been covering NSO Group and tracking the use of Pegasus around the world for years. The Wire claimed that the ruling government was clearly involved in deploying Pegasus in the phones of journalists to political opponents, ministers, businessmen and human rights defenders to a dissident Election Commissioner and a young woman who alleged she had been sexually harassed by a sitting chief justice of India since no foreign agency could possibly be interested in all of these individuals. Also, NSO said it only sells Pegasus to “vetted governments”, it did not deny selling Pegasus to India and the Modi government did not deny using it.

Bharat Biotech-Covaxin

In February this year, a district court in Telangana ordered The Wire to take down 14 articles it had published about Bharat Biotech manufactured Covaxin. In the Rs 100 crore defamamtion suit filed by the company, the court wanted to prevent ‘vaccine hesitancy’ among the masses which could be the result of the “false stories”. The articles in question have not been made public since the matter is sub judice, however, Siddharth Vardarajan had said that the court passed the order without hearing the organisation’s arguments, without serving any notice.

Piyush Goyal

IN April 2018, The Wire published an article titled ‘In Selling Firm to Piramal Group as Minister, Piyush Goyal Pushes Ethical Boundaries’ in which it was stated that When Goyal was Minister of  Power, he sold the entire stock of a privately held company he and his wife owned, at nearly 1000 times the face value, to a group firm owned by Ajay Piramal – a billionaire with substantial interests in the infrastructure sector including power and this sale was not reflected in the mandatory statement of assets and liabilities he made with the Prime Minister’s Office in 2014 and 2015 as a minister in the government.

Rafale Deal Controversy

The Wire, in 2018, had conducted a discussion on whether the process by which the Modi government acquired 36 Rafale jets was transparent in nature. The speakers discussed how  the deal changed at the eleventh hour and whether Reliance Infrastructure’s track record was taken into consideration by Dassault when it chose the company as an offset partner.

Reliance Infrastructure filed a defamation case against the portal for this video which was later withdrawn in 2019.

The Golden Touch of Jay Amit Shah

The article published in October 2017, highlighted that “The turnover of a company owned by Jay Amitbhai Shah, son of Bharatiya Janata Party leader Amit Shah, increased 16,000 times over in the year following the election of Narendra Modi as prime minister and the elevation of his father to the post of party president…”

Following this, Jay Shah had filed a defamation case against the portal which is pending before the Supreme Court.

Taking on the Adani Group

In November 2017, The Wire published an article ‘Does It Make Economic Sense for IOC and Gail India to Invest in Adani’s LNG Terminals?’ in which it questioned the decision of state-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and Gail India to invest in its LNG projects of Odisha and Gujarat. The article stated, “While investors have given a thumbs-down to the deals as they would add to the PSUs’ loan burden, they will likely help the heavily-indebted Adani group secure bank loans and make future investments.”

The Adani Group filed a defamation suit in this regard however, the same was withdrawn in May 2019.

The Wire had also re-published an article by former Economic and Political Weekly editor Paranjoy Guha Thakurta claiming that the Centre had amended Special Economic Zone rules to facilitate duty reimbursements for raw materials to Adani Power Limited, leading to a benefit of Rs 500 crores. The article titled ‘Modi Government’s Rs 500-Crore Bonanza to the Adani Group’ It alleged the company had falsely claimed this reimbursement without actually paying the duty in the first place. This article was also included in a defamation suit, which was withdrawn unconditionally in May 2019.

ICICI Insurance Scam

In December 2017, The Wire did a detailed story revealing the modus operandi of how ICICI bank duped its customers including farmers, labourers and senior citizens from rural areas of southern Rajasthan, including beneficiaries of central government schemes like the Kisan Credit Card and MGNREGA into buying insurance policies with huge recurring annual premiums.

Sand mining Mafia of Tamil Nadu

In 2017, a Chennai based senior journalist, Sandhya Ravishankar, had published in The Wire a four-part investigative journalism series on Tamil Nadu’s sand mafia documenting the illegal sand mining, political collusion, and methods used to suppress competition in the south. IN march, she filed a complaint that she was being constantly harassed by supporters of S. Vaikundarajan, owner of the largest sand mining conglomerate in the country, who is mentioned extensively in the articles.

Opinion pieces

Apart from its investigative journalism and brave reportage of important news that mainstream media tucks in a corner, The Wire has also published some exceptional opinion pieces, to name a few, the ones by former Supreme Court judge Madan Lokur questioning Supreme Court’s suspension of Bombay High Court’s decision to discharge Prof GN Saibaba as well as the one questioning Supreme Court’s judgement that led to Teesta Setalvad’s arrest. Also, the heartfelt letter written by Umar Khalid from prison, who remains incarcerated till date for charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The powerful insights of renowned journalist P Sainath pointing out exclusion of citizen’s rights to legal recourse in any law allowing the government to act ‘in good faith’ while granting it immunity from court proceedings.

Accolades and Recognition

Over the years, several journalists working with The Wire have won accolades for their reportage.

This includes the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards, in the Government and Politics category awarded to Dheeraj Mishra and Seemi Pasha. Dheeraj Mishra’s report focused on MPs’ unusually high expenses while travelling, for which he filed several RTIs to gather data and Seemi Pasha’s video delved into Jamia Nagar, which in late 2019, developed into a neighbourhood attracting communal hatred from those opposed to the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act.

In June this year, Ismat Ara won the Human Rights and Religious Freedom Young Journalist of the Year Award announced by the Indian American Muslim Council, an advocacy group based in Washington, United States.

Priyanka Pulla and Mahtab Alam won the Mumbai Press Club’s RedInk Awards 2021 for articles that were published by The Wire. While Pulla won in the category ‘Health & Wellness (Print)’ for a story titled ‘India Is Undercounting Its COVID-19 Deaths. This Is How.’, Alam was declared a joint-winner in the ‘Arts’ category for his tribute to actor Tom Alter titled ‘The ‘Angrez’ Who Wrote His Memoir in Urdu’.

In 2020, Sukanya Shantha won the ACJ Journalism Award for  social impact journalism for her report “From Segregation to Labour, Manu’s Caste Law Governs the Indian Prison System” which examined caste-based discrimination within prison systems and how labour within the prison is, according to prison manuals, assigned on the basis of caste. She also won the Fetisov Journalism Award for contribution to civil rights for the same reportage.

In 2020, Siddharth Varadarajan was presented the Deutsche Welle’s Freedom of Speech Award.

In 2019, Arfa Khanum Sherwani and Faiyaz Ahmad Wajeeh won the Red Ink awards in the Politics and Arts category, respectively. While Sherwani won in the Politics (TV) category for her interview with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar of The Art of Living foundation, Wajeeh was declared winner of the Arts (TV) category for his video on a bookstore that brought together Urdu’s literary greats. Sherwani’s interview with Ravi Shankar was on his comments on the Ayodhya land dispute case in March 2018, when he said if the Ram mandir issue is not resolved “we will have a Syria in India”.

In 2018, Siddharth Varadarajan won the Shorenstein Journalism Award given annually by Stanford University’s Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center which honours journalists who have “produced outstanding reporting on Asia and contributed significantly to Western understanding of the region”.

In 2017, Neha Dixit won the CPJ International Press Freedom Award for her reportage on extrajudicial killings and illegal detentions. In 2016 she also won the Chameli Devi Jain Award for Outstanding Women Mediapersons

The Wire has won the 2021 Free Media Pioneer Award given by the International Press Institute (IPI) to recognise media organisations that are innovating for better journalism and news access, or working to ensure freer and more independent media in their country or region.

In 2016, The Wire was presented with the ‘Start-up of the Year’ award at the RedInk journalism awards instituted by the Press Club, Mumbai

A story published in the Columbia Journalism Review in late 2016 identified The Wire as one of several independent internet-based media platforms that were attempting to challenge the dominance of India’s traditional print and television news companies and their online offshoots.

Related:

Raids on The Wire criminalising journalism: DIGIPUB India condemns Delhi police action

Silence is not an option: Journalists to India’s Constitutional institutions

Webinar on rise in Human Rights violations in UP during lockdown

The post The Wire’s Intrepid and Pathbreaking Contribution to India’ s Journalism appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Today, the Delhi Police Crime Branch deployed a large contingent of its personnel across Delhi and Mumbai to the homes of our founding editors Siddharth Varadarajan, MK Venu, Sidharth Bhatia and deputy editor Jahnavi Sen pursuant to a Section 91 notice issued in relation to an FIR lodged against them by BJP leader Amit Malviya.

All four cooperated and gave over the devices sought. We also placed on record our demand for the hash value of the phones, computers and iPads seized and for cloned copies of the devices seized to be kept at a neutral place. The hash value is a unique numerical value used to ensure the integrity of a device and its data.

In spite of this cooperation, The Wire’s office at Bhagat Singh Market in Delhi was also searched and one of our lawyers physically pushed out by the officers at that site. The Crime Branch party then took away the hard disks from the two computers used by our accounts staff, again without mention of any hash value or providing us a cloned copy so that the normal financial work so central to the day-to-day functioning of a media organisation can continue uninterrupted.

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DIGIPUB India, a collective of independent digital news portals, on Monday outrightly condemned Delhi Police raids on the homes of the editors of The Wire (a member of DIGIPUB) based on a criminal defamation complaint filed by BJP’s IT cell chief, Amit  Malviya.

“A journalist or a media organisation that publishes a false report ought to be held accountable by its peers and civil society. But for the police carry out immediate and arbitrary search of editors’ homes, based entirely on a private complaint of defamation filed by a spokesperson of the ruling party smack of malafide intentions,” said a statement issued by the collective, of which eleven organisations including the Wire, NewsClick are also among the founding members along with 11 organisaions such as News Minute, Newslaundry, Article 14, Scroll, AltNews also among others.

DigipubIndia (@DIGIPUB News India Foundation) Tweeted: DIGIPUB’s statement on police searches on the homes of the editors and a reporter of @thewire_in 

Digipub’s statement on police searches on the homes of the editors and a reporter of The Wire pic.twitter.com/ewZCIZNL4C

— DIGIPUB News India Foundation (@DigipubIndia) November 1, 2022

The statement also expressed serious concern over the danger of these searches “being used as an excuse to seize and duplicate confidential and sensitive data held by The Wire.”

The association also expressed concerns that the investigation could become “a tool to further worsen the already fraught state of journalism in India”.

All democrats must share our deep concern over the Delhi police’s reported “search” of the residences & devices of The Wire’s Siddharth Varadarajan and M. K. Venu. What is the legal justification for targeting them? Amit Malviya’s over-the-top complaint?

— N. Ram (@nramind) October 31, 2022

 The complaint was filed by Amit Malviya, BJP’s IT cell chief, just two days ago, following a first information report  registered by the Delhi Police accuses The Wire of cheating, forgery, defamation and criminal conspiracy referring to a series of stories on Meta, one of which had named him.

The veracity of the stories was denied by Meta, which alleged that the documents and emails used were “fabricated”. The Wire retracted the stories on October 23, admitting that it had failed in due diligence and filed a complaint against its key technology expert, Devesh Kumar, who allegedly “deceived” them. The Wire, apart from retracting the stories and apologising to its vast readership, had also announced a due diligence internal inquiry into the entire affair. 

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On May 25, 2022, the Allahabad High Court quashed the First Information Report (FIR) registered against The Wire’s founding editor Siddharth Varadarajan and reporter Ismat Ara in Rampur over a report on the death of a protester in New Delhi during the farmers protest on Republic Day 2021, reported LiveLaw.

The FIR was registered against them under IPC sections 153B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration) and 505(2) (statements creating or promoting enmity between classes) for tweeting a story on Navreet Singh Dibdibiya, the deceased protester. 

A division bench comprising Justices Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Rajnish Kumar held, “Since the allegations made in the FIR does not disclose the commissioning of offences under Sections 153-B and 505 (2) IPC, therefore, it is not sustainable in the eyes of law and is liable to be quashed. The FIR is accordingly quashed.”

According to the Court, “For constituting an offence against a person under Section 153-B IPC there should be words either spoken or written or signs or visible representations by a person on account of which any class of persons cannot by reason of their being members of any religious, racial, language or regional group or caste or community, bear true faith and allegiance to the constitution of India or uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India or on account of various factors mentioned therein be denied or deprived of their rights as citizens of India or such assertion, counsel, plea or appeal causes or likely to cause disharmony or feelings of enmity or hatred or ill will between such members and other persons.”

The Court further held, “For constituting an offence under Section 505 (2) IPC, it refers to a person making, publishing or circulating any statement or report containing rumour or alarming news. Thereafter, it refers to the intent of the person which should be to create or promote and then refers to the harm-based element, that is, likely to create or promote on the ground of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, cast, etc., feeling of enmity, hatred or ill-will between different religions, racial language, religious groups or castes or communities, etc. Unless the aforesaid ingredients are fulfilled the offences under sections 153-B and 505 (2) can not be made out.”

The bench finally concluded, “The aforesaid news items does not disclose that any opinion was expressed by the petitioners with consequences thereof, therefore this Court does not find any opinion or assertion on the part of the petitioners which may have the effect of provocating or inciting the people. Nothing was also brought before this court to indicate that there was any disturbance or riot which may have any bearing on public disorder on account of the publication of news/ tweet of the petitioners.”

Brief background of the case

Ismat Ara had interviewed Hardeep Singh Dibdibiya, the deceased protester Navreet’s grandfather, who claimed that he had been told by a doctor that the young man “died due to a bullet injury” and the since “his (doctor’s) hands were tied, he could not do anything.” The Wire’s editor Siddharth Varadarajan, has been regularly named in complaints and FIRs have been lodged against him in Uttar Pradesh.  The FIR, lodged at Rampur’s Civil Lines police station in February 2021, was based on a complaint filed by one Sanju Turaiha, a resident of Rampur in Uttar Pradesh. Varadarajan was charged under Sections 153B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration) and 505(2) (statements creating or promoting enmity between classes) of the IPC. It was alleged that social media posts allegedly “misled people” on the death of Navreet Singh Dibdibiya, a protester in New Delhi on Republic Day in New Delhi.

However, according to the LiveLaw report, the Rampur police had tweeted a statement saying that the doctors involved in Navreet Singh’s post-mortem had denied that they had spoken “to the media or any other person” or had provided any such information as is being attributed to them in the media.  

In September 2021, the Supreme Court had asked The Wire and three of its reporters to approach the High Court for quashing the FIR registered against them over news reports published/written by them (including the instant article tweeted by Siddharth Varadarajan and Ismat Ara). The journalists of the news website The Wire were granted two months of interim protection from any coercive action by the Supreme Court in September. The portal, and three of its journalists were named in three separate First Information Reports (FIR) in districts Rampur, Barabanki and Ghaziabad.

Later in November 2021, the Allahabad High Court bench of Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Justice Subhash Vidyarthi granted them interim protection from arrest.

Related:

Supreme Court grants The Wire interim protection in two different cases in UP

Gauri Lankesh was a martyr to the cause of secular ideas

ED Raids & NewsClick: Weaponising law by Criminalising Free Speech

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The Allahabad High Court has granted interim protection from arrest to journalists Siddharth Varadarajan and Ismat Ara of The Wire, for tweeting a report on the death of a protester in New Delhi during the Republic Day incidents as it allegedly “misled people”. 

The Bench of Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Justice Subhash Vidyarthi also called for a counter affidavit from the State of Uttar Pradesh within three weeks, reported Live Law. The HC was hearing a plea filed by Siddharth Varadarajan and Ismat Ara seeking quashing of an FIR against them under IPC sections 153B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration) and 505(2) (statements creating or promoting enmity between classes) for tweeting a story on Navreet Singh Dibdibiya, the deceased protester. 

Ismat Ara had interviewed Hardeep Singh Dibdibiya, the deceased protest Navreet’s grandfather, who claimed that he had been told by a doctor that the young man “died due to a bullet injury” and the since “his (doctor’s) hands were tied, he could not do anything.” The Wire’s editor Siddharth Varadarajan, has been regularly named in complaints and FIRs have been lodged against him in Uttar Pradesh. 

The FIR, lodged at Rampur’s Civil Lines police station in February 2021, was based on a complaint filed by one Sanju Turaiha, a resident of Rampur in Uttar Pradesh. Varadarajan was charged under Sections 153B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration) and 505(2) (statements creating or promoting enmity between classes) of the IPC. It was alleged that social media posts allegedly “misled people” on the death of Navreet Singh Dibdibiya, a protester in New Delhi on Republic Day in New Delhi.

However, according to the LL report Rampur police had tweeted a statement saying that the doctors involved in Navreet Singh’s post-mortem had denied that they had spoken “to the media or any other person” or had provided any such information as is being attributed to them in the media.  

In September 2021, the Supreme Court had asked “The Wire” and three of its reporters to approach the High Court for quashing of the FIR registered against them over news reports published/written by them (including the instant article tweeted by Siddharth Varadarajan and Ara). The journalists of the news website The Wire were granted two months of interim protection from any coercive action by the Supreme Court in September. The portal, and three of its journalists were named in three separate First Information Reports (FIR) in districts Rampur, Barabanki and Ghaziabad.

Incidentally, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) ranked India at 142nd position out of 180 countries in its 2021 World Press Freedom Index. In India journalists have been easy targets for complaints and FIRs being lodged against them for various reasons, most commonly, just for doing their jobs as reporters and editors.

The orders may be read here:

Related:

Supreme Court grants The Wire interim protection in two different cases in UP

Gauri Lankesh was a martyr to the cause of secular ideas

ED Raids & NewsClick: Weaponising law by Criminalising Free Speech

The post Allahabad HC grants The Wire journalists protection from arrest appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Journalists of the news website The Wire were granted two months of interim protection from any coercive action by the Supreme Court on Wednesday. The portal, and three of its journalists had been named in three separate First Information Reports (FIR) in districts Rampur, Barabanki and Ghaziabad. According to media reports, the three-judge bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao, BR Gavai and BV Nagarathna however, added that while the court “does not want freedom of press to be muzzled or stifled” it cannot create a separate avenue for journalists to approach it directly for quashing of FIRs lodged against them. The SC has directed the petitioner to now approach the High Court and seek the quashing of the FIRs against them.

The Court said that while free speech and press freedom are crucial, alternative remedies before the High Court should be exhausted first, reported Bar and Bench quoting the SC Bench’s remarks: “We don’t want press to be stifled. But we cannot create separate avenue for journalists to come to this court directly under Article 32 for quashing FIRs.” 

The digital news portal, and Wire and its three journalists are facing charges under section 153 (Wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot), 153A (Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), 153B (Imputations, assertions prejudicial to national-integration), and 505 (Statements conducing to public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), reported The Leaflet. Reporters, Seraj Ali and Mukul Singh Chauhan, were booked by UP’s Barabanki police for a video news story on the demolition of a mosque in May 2021 by the UP police, stated the news reports.

On May 17, following the orders of the SDM’s court, the Ram Sanehi Ghat mosque was demolished. The Guardian, had first reported that the destruction of the mosque violated a High Court order ruling to protect it till May 31. The breaking news was followed up extensively by many media outfits. The Wire’s video report showed statements by locals and devotees who described the demolition. After the case was registered, The Leaflet reports that the Investigating Officer (IO) had summoned The Wire’s Editor Siddharth Varadarajan, and journalists Ali and Chauha to Barabanki, from New Delhi. The IO threatened to procure non-bailable warrants against them if they failed to appear, stated the report. Meanwhile, Ismat Ara, also a journalist from The Wire, had been booked by the Rampur police for her report on the death of a farmer allegedly by a police bullet during the farmers’ protest in Delhi on Republic Day, January 26, 2021. She had conducted an interview with a family member of the deceased who had during the said interview expressed apprehensions of foul play in the young farmer’s death.

The Wire had also been named in an FIR filed by the Ghaziabad police for showing miscreants forcibly cutting off the beard of an old Muslim man, and quoting the victim himself as saying he was made to chant some slogans. The police had later denied any communal angle to the incident.

The Foundation for Independent Journalism (FIJ), the non-profit company which runs The Wire, had moved a writ petition along with three of its reporters, seeking quashing of the FIRs on the grounds that none of the offences listed in the FIRs was even made out, stated a report on the portal itself. Senior advocate Nitya Ramakrishnan, submitted that the police was attempting to violate constitutionally guaranteed press freedoms by filing criminal charges over factual news reports that the authorities did not like. The plea stated, “By the very lodging of such FIRs, media persons become embroiled in a process of seeking anticipatory bail, dealing with summons to attend police stations far away from their place of work, dealing with the threat of non-bailable warrants etc. – all for writing on, reporting, and commenting on current affairs. The process becomes the punishment.”

According to The Wire, the court granted two months interim protection to them, to approach the Allahabad high court for relief. Justice Rao noted that in the case of Shillong Times editor Patricia Mukhim, he had agreed to quash the FIR against her after the Meghalaya high court had refused to do so. “You can file an application before the high court and we can grant you some interim protection,” Justice Rao told Ramakrishnan. “Because what will happen is, this will open a Pandora’s box. We cannot take up all the cases here”.

Incidentally, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) ranked India at 142nd position out of 180 countries in its 2021 World Press Freedom Index. The Wire’s editor Siddharth Varadarajan, has been regularly named in complaints and FIRs have been lodged against him in Uttar Pradesh. In February this year,  a complaint against him had been lodged at Rampur’s Civil Lines police station for his social media post. The FIR was based on a complaint filed by one Sanju Turaiha, a resident of Rampur in Uttar Pradesh. Varadarajan was charged under Sections 153B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration) and 505(2) (statements creating or promoting enmity between classes) of the IPC. It was alleged that Varadarajan’s social media post allegedly “misled people” on the death of Navreet Singh Dibdibiya, a protester in New Delhi on Republic Day when violence broke out during the protest against farm bills.

Journalists have been easy targets for complaints and FIRs being lodged against them for various reasons, most commonly, just for doing their jobs as reporters and editors.

Related:

Gauri Lankesh was a martyr to the cause of secular ideas

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The Delhi High Court has issued notice in the plea challenging the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 that regulate digital news media. The plea filed by Foundation for Independent Journalism (owner of The Wire), Founder and Editor-in-chief of ‘The News Minute’ Dhanya Rajendran and Founding Editor of The Wire MK Venu, states that the Rules are ultra vires the parent Act, the Information Technology Act, 2000 (IT Act) since it deals with matters nowhere within the contemplation of the parent Act.

The Petition challenges the IT Rules, 2021 only insofar as they affect digital news portals, and is not with reference to ‘publishers of online curated content’, i.e., OTT media platforms or any other entities. The petitioners point out that the parent Act provides for offences of a specific kind committed in the form of electronic data related to cyber terrorism, child pornography and so on and under section 69A of the IT Act which is limited to a well-defined class of entities called ‘intermediaries’, and ‘Government agencies’, with no scope to dictate content to news media portals.

“The IT Rules, 2021 go far beyond the remit of the parent Act and seek to regulate digital news media by imposing a ‘Code of Ethics’, with all manner of stipulations as to ‘half-truths’, ‘good taste’, ‘decency’ etc., and vest the power of interference ultimately with the Central Government as the chief regulator, at the highest of three tiers,” the petition reads. The petition stated that the Rules bring back some elements of section 66A of the IT Act which were struck down by the Supreme Court in Shreya Singhal v. UOI (2015) for being vague, thus the rules also are in contravention of the said precedent.

Oversight and over reach

“The Rules introduce a special class of entities, obligate a Code of Ethics and further, obligate digital news portals and other entities to set up a ‘grievance’ redressal mechanism that deals with simply ‘any’ person’s complaint, wherein every which decision is subject to scrutiny of a higher regulatory tier, and non-compliance may be escalated to a still higher tier that is headed by a serving Central Government Officer and a Committee of other serving officers,” said the petitioners.

The petitioners also state that the question is not whether news portals should be subjected to a Code of Ethics but whether oversight by the government can be prescribed by the Rules when not contemplated by the parent Act. The petition underscores that there is no unlimited right of delegation, and that subordinate legislation cannot go beyond the object and the scope of the parent Act.

“Allowing a regulatory regime to be established in respect of the digital media industry is like allowing power looms to be regulated under the Electricity Act merely because they employ and use electric power in the course of their business; or allowing the practice and profession of plumbing to be regulated under the Water Act,” the petition states.

The petitioners pray that the impugned Rules be declared void an inoperative insofar as they define and apply to publishers of news and current affairs content and regulate publishers of news and current affairs content, on the ground of being ultra vires the parent Act, i.e. the IT Act, 2000.

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On September 5, the third death anniversary of journalist Gauri Lankesh, SabrangIndia along with premier independent news portal The Wire, the Brihanmumbai Union of Journalists (BUJ) and the Delhi Union of Journalists (BUJ) organised a webinar titled ‘Attack on Free Speech in Times of Covid-19’ where several senior and independent journalists, activists as well as representatives of media unions shared their experiences on how there was concerted attack on press freedom and a clear bid to crush any voice that doesn’t parrot the regimes narrative, and how such instances have only increased amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.  

The event was moderated by SabrangIndia co-founder Teesta Setalvad, who is a senior journalist and also a human rights defender with a formidable repertoire of fighting for the rights of oppressed and persecuted people hailing from various socio-cultural minorities. Setalvad was also a close friend of Gauri Lankesh, the fearless journalist who was slain for standing up to right-wing extremists. In a moving tribute to Lankesh, Setalvad said, “Gauri’s journalism was her passion and her activism represented grace and civility. For Gauri, the personal was the political.” She said, “This Webinar is a tribute to her memory, the journalism and values that she stood for. The journalism of Gauri Lankesh inspires us. I feel like in some way she is watching over us.”

Gauri’s sister, filmmaker and poet, Kavitha Lankesh also joined the webinar to share her memories of Gauri. She said, “I feel a little numb. I wonder what would Gauri say to all that is happening these days, especially given the lockdown. We should pledge to continue the fight started by Gauri. These days most media are not talking about the issues that #GauriLankesh used to raise. We must continue and keep the work and voice of Gauri alive.” 

The Wire co-founder Siddharth Varadarajan, who has also faced state repression and been targeted for his fearless reportage is a kindred spirit and was a co-organiser of the webinar. “Many channels are actively discrediting independent media. Vibrant democracy needs a vibrant independent media. We need greater solidarity,”said Varadarajan who was targeted for reporting on Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath attending a religious ceremony amidst the Covid-19 crisis. Varadarajan is not new to being in the regime’s crosshairs. He and his publication were put through the ringer for their reportage in the infamous Jay Shah case. He was also accused of defamation in a 2012 case before the Madras High Court in connection with reportage on late J Jayalalitha when he was working for The Hindu. “Cases against journalists go on for years. The Madras HC threw out a case against me after 7 long years! The pressure is going to mount. The media will continue to be targeted,” said Varadarajan.

Activist and poet Meena Kandasamy talked about Tamilian journalists who have been recently targeted by India’s right-wing. The Southern States have always opposed Brahmanical fascism owing to the strong influence of the Dravdian movement she said. Moreover, due to a general perception of India’s “cow belt” as representative of the whole of the country, the South often gets ignored by ‘national’ news media. “We have to look beyond the English-speaking and cow belt mainstream and look elsewhere,” said Kandasamy.

Kandasamy also shared examples of how right-wing stooges target those who dissent against the Hindutva ideology. As an example, she mentioned Nelson Xavier from News 7 who was portrayed as anti-Hindu only because he was studying at a Christian-run college. “The cohesive action of the Right targets journalists even remotely connected with the Periyarian struggle,” she said adding that it is near impossible to find someone in Tamil Nadu not influenced by the legendary social reformer. She also said that women were often subjected to doxing and Tamilian Muslims were threatened by the label of ‘terrorists.’ She described the journalism landscape as one where journalists are locking accounts for fear of being monitored by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) groups.

From the South, the conversation went towards the North where Kashmiri journalist Gowhar Geelani said, “Kashmir is being used as a laboratory for experiments that will come to other parts of the country as well.” Geelani said, “Journalists are supposed to be storytellers, but in Kashmir, many times, they have become the story themselves!” He summarised the suppression of freedom of speech using short mnemonics of three ‘P’s, ‘F’s, and ‘C’s.

The three Ps referred to the People, the Politicians and the Pulpit that have been silenced and kept from expressing any form of dissent. He also mentioned an extra ‘P’ of the newly introduced ‘media policy’ that empowered the bureaucrats and clerks to decide what content is ‘anti-national’ or ‘seditious.’ Following this, the authorities then go after the media and journalists like Aasid Sultan (still in custody.)

Geelani then explained the three Fs – Fear, FIRs and a False narrative. He said that the government creates a fear that very few people manage to fight against. Those who raise their voice, face FIRs lodged against them and their family. This suppression leads to a false narrative about the State.

The government thus uses the three Cs – Censorship, Criminalisation of opinions and a Controlling narrative – to manufacture consent and reduce journalism to a Public Relations (PR) mechanism.

“There is no freedom of expression and there is no expression after freedom. That is only for the police, government and people of authority,” he said.

Similarly, editor of Imphal Free Press Pradip Phanjoubam, said that reporters faced a similar censure in the Northeast. “It’s like Alice in Wonderland – we don’t know what the law is,” he said.

He said the current government is of the view that any criticism can break the government. Manipur has seen a lot of political volatility in the recent past on account of questionable defections. The BJP had only recently managed to gain a foothold in the Northeast and was clutching on to Manipur fiercely. Phanjoubam said people have been arrested on frivolous grounds and that the numbers of those arrested could match those in Kashmir. People were arrested for saying “the Chief Minister shouldn’t waste time during the Covid pandemic.” 

From Jharkhand, freelance journalist and poet Jacinta Kerketta said that censure of speech acts as a sign of demise in any democracy. Even prior to the lockdown, the situation was such that either side of the political spectrum blamed the other. In recent times, people have also become more territorial. Adivasis are not allowed to roam around freely in their own land.

“If we, Adivasis, have to ask for permission before going anywhere then who are we,” she asked. She also spoke about how self-styled right-wing vigilantes often tried to derail efforts to educate Adivasis by questioning the religion and political affiliations of the educators. 

Kerketta said, “The Covid lockdown has created a lockdown in the minds of people. Freelance journalists are told to toe the line in their writing. Adivasis don’t even want to write because of the dangers in the field of journalism.” She said people were fearful and thus focusing on self preservation in face of open hostility. “There is now a helplessness with which people engage in writing and speech,” said Kerketta.

On the other hand, Founder of Simplicity news platform D. Andrew Sam said that he enjoyed great support of the journalism community during his time of arrest. Sam was arrested for reporting mismanagement of the coronavirus crisis by the city administration. “We were reporting facts, but government officials contradicted our reports and used their resources to misinform the public by playing down the figures,” said Sam. Many journalists came to the police station but found that the charges against him were jumbled in a false narrative with even rumour being spread about him being booked for harassing a woman! He said that journalists will always have to work with people who try to keep information opaque.  However, he managed because of the support and pressure put by the community.

Following the accounts of the individual journalists, President of Delhi Union of Journalists (DUJ) Sujatha Madhok said that the journalism produced during the pandemic has been wonderful. “Unfortunately, the issues portrayed are not something a government at any level wants us to talk about,” she said. She also highlighted how the lockdown was being misused by media houses to sack journalists, the fear of economic hardship thus hanging over their heads, making journalists vulnerable.

She emphasised that young journalists need to unionise, organisations need to ally and activists need to be reached out because censure has become a problem for the entire nation. Madhok pointed out that while journalists may not be very well-connected, employers are and thus are very concerned about what information goes into the open. She also said that the lockdown has been convenient in picking up people due to limited protests.

Building on this, Founder of the Free Speech Collective Geeta Seshu, said that no case lodged by a journalist between 2014 and 2019 has reached conviction despite detailed complaints. Additionally, journalists are absolutely unaware of their rights.

Seshu criticised the Information and Broadcasting Minister for objecting to India’s ranking given by Reporters Without Borders when he ought to have looked at data and facts. The government said that it will use the Disaster Management Act on any media house giving news that could upset the masses, said Seshu. Thus, there can be no argument that free speech in India is under attack. “The message from the top is that any kind of news that is critical or differs from the government narrative will face a crackdown under the guise of controlling panic,” she said. 

Moreover, she observed a weakening of journalists due to self-censorship and a growth of the regime’s lapdogs in the media who claim to speak for the nation. Sheshu said, “In these last five months free speech has been under attack. There is self censorship. There is also a very partisan media that uses inflammatory programming to attack the very journalistic values that we need to uphold.”

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