Curbing Media Freedom Through Legal Lockdowns<\/strong><\/h1>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”8px|||||”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_image src=”http:\/\/x7t.a3b.myftpupload.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/LAW_000_98D277-India-covid-mural-Punit-PARANJPE-AFP.jpg” title_text=”INDIA-HEALTH-VIRUS” force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”caption” _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”6671dcc6-349c-4400-ae04-612e8c6d39b3″ text_font=”Actor||||||||” text_line_height=”1.5em” header_font_size=”39px” header_3_text_color=”#FF0000″ custom_margin=”-27px||||false|false” custom_padding=”31px||1px||false|false” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
A pedestrian walks past a wall mural depicting a person wearing a protective mask in Mumbai on April 20, 2021. Credit: Punit PARANJPE \/ AFP<\/p>\n
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Afghan President Ashraf Ghani (C) arrives with the government delegation during a visit in Herat province on January 21, 2021. Credit: HOSHANG HASHIMI \/ AFP<\/p>\n
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South Asia presents a uniformly discouraging picture in terms of media freedom as\u00a0 governments across the region, increasingly made use of the law to clampdown on the independent media and censored journalists for their news reports and activists and citizens for their views in digital spaces and on social media.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe Covid-19 pandemic and the resultant stringent lockdowns saw journalists working against stiff odds and at great personal risk, with little or no support or safety equipment. Journalists who reported on hardships caused to people because of restrictions on movement and curbed access to essential commodities and services were met with the heavy hand of the law.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nIn order to delegitimise journalists and crush their morale, their reporting was termed fake news. Accusations of misinformation became a <\/span>common pretext<\/span><\/a> on which to book journalists or send them legal notices.<\/span><\/p>\nIn 2020-21, a variety of tactics were used to stifle the freedom of expression of journalists and restrict their work. <\/span>Journalists, particularly those critical of the government, were subjected to a wide spectrum of laws and action by law enforcement agencies. In many cases, the process itself is the punishment, due to lengthy and harrowing legal procedures, expenses involved and denial of bail, affecting a journalists\u2019 right to work.<\/span><\/p>\nAcross South Asia, these twin tactics \u2013 penalising journalists or debunking verified news as fake \u2013 resulted in repression, censorship and intimidation and delegitimised attempts by the media to hold governments to account. Reports of the lockdown and resultant disruption in the lives of scores of people, loss of livelihoods, destitution and the extreme vulnerability of citizens across South Asia due to the collapse of public health systems were sought to be criminalised and silenced. Along with lack of transparency by government, there was an increasing tendency to centralise information and block access to means of independent verification, thus making it harder for the media to do its job of informing the public during a time when accurate data and information were crucial.<\/span><\/p>\nAfghanistan<\/b> continued to be exceedingly dangerous for journalists who faced threats from government, security forces and armed extremist groups. The impunity with which women journalists and other media workers were killed by the Taliban and the Daesh (IS) (six between September 2020 and January 2021) only underscores how precarious journalism is, especially with the scheduled US troop withdrawal from the country.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nPress laws in Afghanistan <\/span>mandate that the Commission for the Verification of Press Offences deals with complaints against media and journalists after which they are transferred to appropriate courts. Despite this legal protection, agents of the National Department of Security (NDS) arrested two journalists, <\/span>Mahboboalah Hakimi <\/b>of <\/span>Radio Bayan<\/span><\/i> (Word), for allegedly insulting the president in a Facebook post. The home of <\/span>Farough Jan Mangol,<\/b> the <\/span>Reuters<\/span><\/i> news agency\u2019s correspondent in Khost was searched without a warrant and the <\/span>NDS<\/span><\/a> later said it was a mistake.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe Covid-19 pandemic worsened the situation and journalists found it difficult to access information on those affected and measures to deal with the public health crisis. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Danish Karokhel<\/b>, the director of Afghanistan\u2019s biggest news agency, <\/span>Pajhwok Afghan News<\/span><\/a>, was subjected to intense questioning and harassment after the agency reported that <\/span>32 ventilators intended for Afghan coronavirus patients had been<\/span> stolen and sold to Pakistan<\/span><\/a>. The agency was accused of acting against national security.<\/span><\/p>\nThe government in Afghanistan proposed several amendments to the Mass Media Law 2006, meant to drastically curtail the freedom of press. In an open letter to President<\/span> Ashraf Ghani <\/b>media houses in Afghanistan said that the <\/span>proposed amendments are in contravention of Articles 7, 34, 120 and 122 of Afghanistan\u2019s Constitution.<\/span> The amendments<\/span><\/a> included increasing the authority of government\u2019s monitoring organisations, reducing the rights of media companies and journalists, reducing the independence of national television, allowing government censorship before and after publication – and most controversially- requiring journalists to <\/span>reveal their sources<\/span><\/a> to government bodies including the security services. The amendments were <\/span>withdrawn<\/span><\/a> after widespread protest.<\/span><\/p>\nAccording to the 14<\/span>th<\/span> report<\/span><\/a> of the <\/span>Afghan Journalists Safety Committee (AJSC), <\/span>the <\/span>\u201cdramatically increased levels of direct attacks and assassinations of journalists at the end of 2020 has created widespread panic among media outlets and journalists across Afghanistan. These attacks have had a noticeably adverse effect on impartial and objective reporting, with many journalists admitting to reconsidering both how and whether to report on certain topics for fear of reprisal – effectively amounting to the increasingly widespread practice of self-censorship. Additionally, the economic impact of Covid-19 has compounded existing financial challenges for media outlets, often frustrating their efforts to raise sufficient funds, and thereby their capacity to generate media content.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nBangladesh<\/b> continues to deal with media critics under the now notorious <\/span>Digital Security Act 2018<\/span><\/a>. The death in police custody of blogger Mushtaq Ahmed in February 2021 once more shone the spotlight on this broad ranging draconian law. Along with cartoonist Ahmed Kabir Kishore, Mushtaq Ahmed had been under the DSA for allegedly spreading rumours and misinformation about the pandemic. Kabir Kishore who, like Mushtaq Ahmed had been denied bail for ten months, was finally released on bail on March 4, eight days after the death of blogger Mushtaq Ahmed. <\/span>(For more on the DSA see chapter xxx).<\/span><\/p>\nThe legal environment for journalists in Bangladesh is also circumscribed by poorly defined defamation laws which are arbitrarily implemented. For instance, magistrates permit unrelated third parties to bring defamation cases on behalf of someone ostensibly injured, leading to a serious chilling effect on freedom of expression.<\/span><\/p>\nIn Bhutan,<\/b> while the Constitution guarantees the right to freedom of speech, opinion and expression, a recent notification issued by the Thimpu Thrombde (administrative division) <\/span>established a protocol mandating media professionals to seek written permission to avail information. The Thromde issued a notification on 12 April 2021, asking any individual or media person wanting to avail information to fill up a form and wait for the response\u00a0from the media relations officer.<\/span><\/p>\nThe president of Journalist Association of Bhutan, Rinzin Wangchuk, said the Thromde\u2019s new protocol comes at a time when journalists in the country are already facing challenges in access to information. He said such requirements will further hinder journalists from carrying out their duties of informing the people. \u201cIt will cause a delay in the\u00a0dissemination of information to the public.<\/span><\/p>\nAn <\/span>editorial<\/span><\/a> in Bhutan\u2019s largest circulated English daily <\/span>Kuensel<\/span><\/i> called upon the revocation of this rule, stating that this was not the first time the bureaucracy was trying to disrupt relations between the media, the government and public officials.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/span>Lawyer Sonam Tshering in his <\/span>article<\/span><\/a> said<\/span> Thimphu Thromde\u2019s notification on how to request information from them is nothing short of an authoritarian attitude that undermines the fundamental freedoms of both media and individuals seeking information and threatens the foundations of democracy<\/span>. It is unprecedented in the history of Bhutan\u2019s democracy where local government \u2013which is expected to be the closest democratic government to the electorate \u2013 has decided to restrain the right to information including the right to reject and discretion to change the existing form without notice.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nIn India,<\/b> both central and state governments were watchful of social media coverage of their actions, schemes and policies and arbitrarily punished journalists for a mere tweet or Facebook post.<\/span><\/p>\nIn 2020 alone, 67 journalists in India <\/span>were “arrested, detained, interrogated or served show cause notices for their professional work”, according to a <\/span>Free Speech Collective<\/span><\/a> report. <\/span>The journalists primarily worked for non-English media houses, were freelancers or worked for digital media.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nJournalists were booked under a dizzying variety of laws – <\/span>ranging from the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967 (UAPA) Information Technology Act,2000 (IT Act) Disaster Management Act, 2005 (NDMA) and the 124-year-old colonial era Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897.\u00a0 Involvement of higher law enforcement agencies like the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and National Investigative Agency (NIA) were also part of the government\u2019s legal arsenal to intimidate journalists and media houses.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nAs in previous years, various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections were used by the police to browbeat journalists. <\/span>Journalists were booked for \u2018fake news\u2019 under the <\/span>IPC \u00a0sections 505<\/span><\/a> (statements likely to create public alarm or likely to incite the public<\/span>) and 506 <\/span>(criminal intimidation) for public mischief and criminal intimidation.<\/span> The sedition law was also applied widely. Section 124A of the IPC- is a <\/span>major sedition law<\/span><\/a> which punishes invoking hatred or disaffection against the government. A non-bailable offence, it carries both imprisonment and fine.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe government\u2019s frequent and unrelenting use of sedition laws prompted the IFJ and the International Press Institute to write a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which <\/span>said<\/span><\/a>: \u201cThe use of sedition laws to harass independent, critical journalists is not only a gross violation of the country\u2019s international commitments, it is also an attempt by the government to silence any criticism. Journalistic work cannot be equated to sedition or undermining security.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nThe letter also observed that the 2020 pandemic and ensuing health crisis \u201cis being used as an excuse to silence those who have exposed shortcoming in the government\u2019s response to it\u2026\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>Indeed, the government took ample advantage of periods of disturbance and unrest in the country to stifle the voices of dissenting journalists. Spikes in legal action against journalists were evident where journalism was related to effects of the pandemic and the government\u2019s handling of it, the Hathras gangrape and the farmer\u2019s protests.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nAnother tactic was to delegitimise journalists by denying their professional identity. For example, in one instance, a well-known Kashmiri photojournalist was termed a \u2018<\/span>Facebook user\u2019.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_4″ _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_blurb admin_label=”Blurb” _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”-3px||-14px|-25px||” animation_style=”fade” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
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Danish Karokhel<\/strong>, the director of Afghanistan\u2019s biggest news agency, Pajhwok Afghan News<\/a>, was subjected to intense questioning and harassment after the agency reported that 32 ventilators intended for Afghan coronavirus patients had been stolen and sold to Pakistan<\/a>.<\/span><\/h3>\n[\/et_pb_blurb][et_pb_divider show_divider=”off” _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||507px|||”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_blurb admin_label=”Blurb” _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”-3px||-14px|-25px||” animation_style=”fade” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
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The legal environment for journalists in Bangladesh is also circumscribed by poorly defined defamation laws which are arbitrarily implemented. For instance, magistrates permit unrelated third parties to bring defamation cases on behalf of someone ostensibly injured, leading to a serious chilling effect on freedom of expression.<\/span><\/h3>\n[\/et_pb_blurb][et_pb_divider show_divider=”off” _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||223px|||”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_blurb admin_label=”Blurb” _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”-3px||-14px|-25px||” animation_style=”fade” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
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Journalists were booked for \u2018fake news\u2019 under the IPC sections 505<\/a> (statements likely to create public alarm or likely to incite the public) and 506 (criminal intimidation) for public mischief and criminal intimidation.<\/span><\/h3>\n[\/et_pb_blurb][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”3_4,1_4″ _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”43px|auto|12px|auto|false|false” custom_padding=”9px|||||”][et_pb_column type=”3_4″ _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default”]<\/p>\n
Pandemic and lockdown<\/h3>\n
Wherever journalists exposed negligence and apathy by the administration \u2013 whether with regard to challenges faced by healthcare workers, questioning quarantine policies, reporting on the poor quality of PPEs, deaths due to hunger and migrant workers not getting rations –\u00a0 they had to face consequences.<\/span> For example, executive editor at Scroll.in, Supriya Sharma, who published a report about how people in a village adopted by the Prime Minister went hungry during the lockdown, was <\/span>charged<\/span><\/a> under various sections of the IPC, including defamation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nA <\/span>report by Newslaundry<\/span><\/a> noted that a number of journalists were prevented from doing their work since the nationwide lockdown of March 2020. The journalists were impeded from working through \u201cpolice interrogation, notices, detention, FIR, arrest and assault\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nJournalists were booked under IPC Section 188, related to disobeying a public servant\u2019s order, and Section 505 (1)(b), which punishes any action causing fear and alarm to the public, inducing individuals to commit an offence against the state.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nJournalists also <\/span>faced charges<\/span><\/a> under the National Disaster Management Act, sections of which penalise individuals for spreading false alarms.\u00a0 The Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 also became a common tool to impede journalists. This British era law empowers the state to take special measures to prevent the outbreak of dangerous epidemic diseases. It has been <\/span>used against<\/span><\/a> patients, journalists and Opposition leaders <\/span>across the country<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nIndia\u2019s Information Technology Act was also used to target journalists. <\/span>Journalists from various parts of the country such as Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Bihar and Maharashtra were booked for critical reporting around government handling of the pandemic.<\/span> In <\/span>Tripura<\/span><\/a>, the state government issued a notice to a website which published negative reports about the administration\u2019s response to COVID while one journalist was assaulted.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nHowever, the <\/span>Uttar Pradesh<\/span><\/a> government led the ranks in cracking down on questioning journalists.\u00a0 In general, <\/span>journalists who reported <\/span>gaps and inadequacies<\/span><\/a> in government schemes in Uttar Pradesh \u2014 like the Swacchh Bharat Mission and gaps in access to education and food welfare \u2014received notices or were booked by the police. Various state officials such as District Magistrates, sub-divisional magistrates, members of the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force and the UP Police were involved in hounding journalists.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/span><\/p>\nHathras gang rape<\/h3>\n
The brutal gang rape of a Dalit teenager in Hathras district placed the spotlight on Uttar Pradesh for its troubling record of crimes and violence against women. The UP government tried its best to control media coverage of the incident and <\/span>banned the media<\/span><\/a> from entering the village where the crime was committed.<\/span><\/p>\nSiddique Kappan a journalist who wrote for <\/span>Malayalam news organisations<\/span><\/a> was on his way to Hathras when he and three others were charged under the UAPA and the IT Act in October 2020. <\/span>The FIR by the UP Police against them claimed that they were going to Hathras with an intention \u201cto breach the peace\u201d as part of a \u201cconspiracy\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\nThe Enforcement Directorate (ED) also got involved and <\/span>filed a chargesheet<\/span><\/a> in 2021<\/span><\/a> against Kappan and others, <\/span>accusing them of money laundering<\/span><\/a>. They were charged on grounds of their association with the Popular Front of India and its student wing the Campus Front of India (CFI), which according to the ED were involved in funding and participating in the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act, the 2020 Delhi riots and protests against the Hathras gangrape.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nFarmer protests<\/h3>\n
The introduction of new Farm Bills in September 2020 which brought thousands of farmers to the streets in protest, especially in North India, received wide coverage in the media. But many journalists who covered the protests also bore the brunt of police violence and legal action.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0First information reports (FIRs) were filed by the police in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh against six journalists Rajdeep Sardesai, Mrinal Pande, Zafar Agha, Vinod Jose, Paresh Nath, and Anant Nath \u2013 and Congress politician Shashi Tharoor for <\/span>“misreporting”<\/span><\/a> on a Republic Day farmers rally. The FIRs were filed in connection with tweets by the journalists about the death of a protester during the rally. <\/span>Most of the FIRs <\/span>cited IPC sections<\/span><\/a> related to sedition, criminal intimidation, promoting enmity, provocation to break public peace, criminal conspiracy and outraging religious feelings. The journalists were also <\/span>booked<\/span><\/a> under the Information Technology Act. An FIR was also filed against an <\/span>editor<\/span><\/a> who published an article questioning the events which led to the death of the protester. Delhi Police detained at least <\/span>two journalists<\/span><\/a> covering the farmer protests.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe Hindu<\/span><\/i><\/a> newspaper said in an editorial that the FIRs were <\/span>“part of the now-familiar practice of weaving a narrative of an imagined threat to national security\u201d. \u00a0\u201cIt also shows a tendency not to miss an opportunity to harass and intimidate journalists.\u201d The government also employed <\/span>the National Investigative Agency (NIA) to summon 40 protesters for questioning, including a <\/span>Punjab-based journalist<\/span><\/a> for their supposed links to a separatist group.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
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Journalists from various parts of the country such as Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Bihar and Maharashtra were booked for critical reporting around government handling of the pandemic.<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n[\/et_pb_blurb][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”8px|||||”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_image src=”http:\/\/x7t.a3b.myftpupload.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/LAW_000_8RJ4X2-protest-in-opposition-to-atrocities-against-women-in-Utaar-Pradesh-Dibyangshu-SARKAR-AFP.jpg” title_text=”INDIA-CRIME-ASSAULT-PROTEST” force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”caption” _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”6671dcc6-349c-4400-ae04-612e8c6d39b3″ text_font=”Actor||||||||” text_line_height=”1.5em” header_font_size=”39px” header_3_text_color=”#FF0000″ custom_margin=”-27px||||false|false” custom_padding=”31px||1px||false|false” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
Activists of the Congress party with party flags walk in a rally protesting in opposition to atrocities against women in Utaar Pradesh and all over the country, following the alleged gang-rape and murder of a 19-year-old woman in Bool Garhi village of Uttar Pradesh state, in Kolkata on October 6, 2020. Credit: Dibyangshu SARKAR \/ AFP<\/p>\n
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Reckoning with the might of the state<\/h3>\n
Conditions for freedom of expression were far from encouraging across the country, but in Kashmir, given the government\u2019s tight control of the media, the curbs resulted in serious day to day challenges for journalists. Kashmiri journalists are forced to regularly reckon with the might of the state, exercised through detention, raids, arbitrary slapping of the UAPA, physical assaults by the police and their reports repeatedly denounced as fake news.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWhile the UAPA became a common tool to <\/span>clamp down<\/span> on student leaders, activists and journalists across the country, in Kashmir, the UAPA was used by the government \u2018<\/span>
The Covid-19 pandemic and the resultant stringent lockdowns saw journalists working against stiff odds and at great personal risk, with little or no support or safety equipment. Journalists who reported on hardships caused to people because of restrictions on movement and curbed access to essential commodities and services were met with the heavy hand of the law.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In order to delegitimise journalists and crush their morale, their reporting was termed fake news. Accusations of misinformation became a <\/span>common pretext<\/span><\/a> on which to book journalists or send them legal notices.<\/span><\/p>\n In 2020-21, a variety of tactics were used to stifle the freedom of expression of journalists and restrict their work. <\/span>Journalists, particularly those critical of the government, were subjected to a wide spectrum of laws and action by law enforcement agencies. In many cases, the process itself is the punishment, due to lengthy and harrowing legal procedures, expenses involved and denial of bail, affecting a journalists\u2019 right to work.<\/span><\/p>\n Across South Asia, these twin tactics \u2013 penalising journalists or debunking verified news as fake \u2013 resulted in repression, censorship and intimidation and delegitimised attempts by the media to hold governments to account. Reports of the lockdown and resultant disruption in the lives of scores of people, loss of livelihoods, destitution and the extreme vulnerability of citizens across South Asia due to the collapse of public health systems were sought to be criminalised and silenced. Along with lack of transparency by government, there was an increasing tendency to centralise information and block access to means of independent verification, thus making it harder for the media to do its job of informing the public during a time when accurate data and information were crucial.<\/span><\/p>\n Afghanistan<\/b> continued to be exceedingly dangerous for journalists who faced threats from government, security forces and armed extremist groups. The impunity with which women journalists and other media workers were killed by the Taliban and the Daesh (IS) (six between September 2020 and January 2021) only underscores how precarious journalism is, especially with the scheduled US troop withdrawal from the country.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Press laws in Afghanistan <\/span>mandate that the Commission for the Verification of Press Offences deals with complaints against media and journalists after which they are transferred to appropriate courts. Despite this legal protection, agents of the National Department of Security (NDS) arrested two journalists, <\/span>Mahboboalah Hakimi <\/b>of <\/span>Radio Bayan<\/span><\/i> (Word), for allegedly insulting the president in a Facebook post. The home of <\/span>Farough Jan Mangol,<\/b> the <\/span>Reuters<\/span><\/i> news agency\u2019s correspondent in Khost was searched without a warrant and the <\/span>NDS<\/span><\/a> later said it was a mistake.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Covid-19 pandemic worsened the situation and journalists found it difficult to access information on those affected and measures to deal with the public health crisis. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Danish Karokhel<\/b>, the director of Afghanistan\u2019s biggest news agency, <\/span>Pajhwok Afghan News<\/span><\/a>, was subjected to intense questioning and harassment after the agency reported that <\/span>32 ventilators intended for Afghan coronavirus patients had been<\/span> stolen and sold to Pakistan<\/span><\/a>. The agency was accused of acting against national security.<\/span><\/p>\n The government in Afghanistan proposed several amendments to the Mass Media Law 2006, meant to drastically curtail the freedom of press. In an open letter to President<\/span> Ashraf Ghani <\/b>media houses in Afghanistan said that the <\/span>proposed amendments are in contravention of Articles 7, 34, 120 and 122 of Afghanistan\u2019s Constitution.<\/span> The amendments<\/span><\/a> included increasing the authority of government\u2019s monitoring organisations, reducing the rights of media companies and journalists, reducing the independence of national television, allowing government censorship before and after publication – and most controversially- requiring journalists to <\/span>reveal their sources<\/span><\/a> to government bodies including the security services. The amendments were <\/span>withdrawn<\/span><\/a> after widespread protest.<\/span><\/p>\n According to the 14<\/span>th<\/span> report<\/span><\/a> of the <\/span>Afghan Journalists Safety Committee (AJSC), <\/span>the <\/span>\u201cdramatically increased levels of direct attacks and assassinations of journalists at the end of 2020 has created widespread panic among media outlets and journalists across Afghanistan. These attacks have had a noticeably adverse effect on impartial and objective reporting, with many journalists admitting to reconsidering both how and whether to report on certain topics for fear of reprisal – effectively amounting to the increasingly widespread practice of self-censorship. Additionally, the economic impact of Covid-19 has compounded existing financial challenges for media outlets, often frustrating their efforts to raise sufficient funds, and thereby their capacity to generate media content.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Bangladesh<\/b> continues to deal with media critics under the now notorious <\/span>Digital Security Act 2018<\/span><\/a>. The death in police custody of blogger Mushtaq Ahmed in February 2021 once more shone the spotlight on this broad ranging draconian law. Along with cartoonist Ahmed Kabir Kishore, Mushtaq Ahmed had been under the DSA for allegedly spreading rumours and misinformation about the pandemic. Kabir Kishore who, like Mushtaq Ahmed had been denied bail for ten months, was finally released on bail on March 4, eight days after the death of blogger Mushtaq Ahmed. <\/span>(For more on the DSA see chapter xxx).<\/span><\/p>\n The legal environment for journalists in Bangladesh is also circumscribed by poorly defined defamation laws which are arbitrarily implemented. For instance, magistrates permit unrelated third parties to bring defamation cases on behalf of someone ostensibly injured, leading to a serious chilling effect on freedom of expression.<\/span><\/p>\n In Bhutan,<\/b> while the Constitution guarantees the right to freedom of speech, opinion and expression, a recent notification issued by the Thimpu Thrombde (administrative division) <\/span>established a protocol mandating media professionals to seek written permission to avail information. The Thromde issued a notification on 12 April 2021, asking any individual or media person wanting to avail information to fill up a form and wait for the response\u00a0from the media relations officer.<\/span><\/p>\n The president of Journalist Association of Bhutan, Rinzin Wangchuk, said the Thromde\u2019s new protocol comes at a time when journalists in the country are already facing challenges in access to information. He said such requirements will further hinder journalists from carrying out their duties of informing the people. \u201cIt will cause a delay in the\u00a0dissemination of information to the public.<\/span><\/p>\n An <\/span>editorial<\/span><\/a> in Bhutan\u2019s largest circulated English daily <\/span>Kuensel<\/span><\/i> called upon the revocation of this rule, stating that this was not the first time the bureaucracy was trying to disrupt relations between the media, the government and public officials.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>Lawyer Sonam Tshering in his <\/span>article<\/span><\/a> said<\/span> Thimphu Thromde\u2019s notification on how to request information from them is nothing short of an authoritarian attitude that undermines the fundamental freedoms of both media and individuals seeking information and threatens the foundations of democracy<\/span>. It is unprecedented in the history of Bhutan\u2019s democracy where local government \u2013which is expected to be the closest democratic government to the electorate \u2013 has decided to restrain the right to information including the right to reject and discretion to change the existing form without notice.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In India,<\/b> both central and state governments were watchful of social media coverage of their actions, schemes and policies and arbitrarily punished journalists for a mere tweet or Facebook post.<\/span><\/p>\n In 2020 alone, 67 journalists in India <\/span>were “arrested, detained, interrogated or served show cause notices for their professional work”, according to a <\/span>Free Speech Collective<\/span><\/a> report. <\/span>The journalists primarily worked for non-English media houses, were freelancers or worked for digital media.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Journalists were booked under a dizzying variety of laws – <\/span>ranging from the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967 (UAPA) Information Technology Act,2000 (IT Act) Disaster Management Act, 2005 (NDMA) and the 124-year-old colonial era Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897.\u00a0 Involvement of higher law enforcement agencies like the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and National Investigative Agency (NIA) were also part of the government\u2019s legal arsenal to intimidate journalists and media houses.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As in previous years, various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections were used by the police to browbeat journalists. <\/span>Journalists were booked for \u2018fake news\u2019 under the <\/span>IPC \u00a0sections 505<\/span><\/a> (statements likely to create public alarm or likely to incite the public<\/span>) and 506 <\/span>(criminal intimidation) for public mischief and criminal intimidation.<\/span> The sedition law was also applied widely. Section 124A of the IPC- is a <\/span>major sedition law<\/span><\/a> which punishes invoking hatred or disaffection against the government. A non-bailable offence, it carries both imprisonment and fine.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The government\u2019s frequent and unrelenting use of sedition laws prompted the IFJ and the International Press Institute to write a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which <\/span>said<\/span><\/a>: \u201cThe use of sedition laws to harass independent, critical journalists is not only a gross violation of the country\u2019s international commitments, it is also an attempt by the government to silence any criticism. Journalistic work cannot be equated to sedition or undermining security.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The letter also observed that the 2020 pandemic and ensuing health crisis \u201cis being used as an excuse to silence those who have exposed shortcoming in the government\u2019s response to it\u2026\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>Indeed, the government took ample advantage of periods of disturbance and unrest in the country to stifle the voices of dissenting journalists. Spikes in legal action against journalists were evident where journalism was related to effects of the pandemic and the government\u2019s handling of it, the Hathras gangrape and the farmer\u2019s protests.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Another tactic was to delegitimise journalists by denying their professional identity. For example, in one instance, a well-known Kashmiri photojournalist was termed a \u2018<\/span>Facebook user\u2019.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_4″ _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_blurb admin_label=”Blurb” _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”-3px||-14px|-25px||” animation_style=”fade” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_blurb][et_pb_divider show_divider=”off” _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||507px|||”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_blurb admin_label=”Blurb” _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”-3px||-14px|-25px||” animation_style=”fade” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_blurb][et_pb_divider show_divider=”off” _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||223px|||”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_blurb admin_label=”Blurb” _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”-3px||-14px|-25px||” animation_style=”fade” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_blurb][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”3_4,1_4″ _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”43px|auto|12px|auto|false|false” custom_padding=”9px|||||”][et_pb_column type=”3_4″ _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default”]<\/p>\n Wherever journalists exposed negligence and apathy by the administration \u2013 whether with regard to challenges faced by healthcare workers, questioning quarantine policies, reporting on the poor quality of PPEs, deaths due to hunger and migrant workers not getting rations –\u00a0 they had to face consequences.<\/span> For example, executive editor at Scroll.in, Supriya Sharma, who published a report about how people in a village adopted by the Prime Minister went hungry during the lockdown, was <\/span>charged<\/span><\/a> under various sections of the IPC, including defamation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n A <\/span>report by Newslaundry<\/span><\/a> noted that a number of journalists were prevented from doing their work since the nationwide lockdown of March 2020. The journalists were impeded from working through \u201cpolice interrogation, notices, detention, FIR, arrest and assault\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Journalists were booked under IPC Section 188, related to disobeying a public servant\u2019s order, and Section 505 (1)(b), which punishes any action causing fear and alarm to the public, inducing individuals to commit an offence against the state.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Journalists also <\/span>faced charges<\/span><\/a> under the National Disaster Management Act, sections of which penalise individuals for spreading false alarms.\u00a0 The Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 also became a common tool to impede journalists. This British era law empowers the state to take special measures to prevent the outbreak of dangerous epidemic diseases. It has been <\/span>used against<\/span><\/a> patients, journalists and Opposition leaders <\/span>across the country<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n India\u2019s Information Technology Act was also used to target journalists. <\/span>Journalists from various parts of the country such as Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Bihar and Maharashtra were booked for critical reporting around government handling of the pandemic.<\/span> In <\/span>Tripura<\/span><\/a>, the state government issued a notice to a website which published negative reports about the administration\u2019s response to COVID while one journalist was assaulted.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n However, the <\/span>Uttar Pradesh<\/span><\/a> government led the ranks in cracking down on questioning journalists.\u00a0 In general, <\/span>journalists who reported <\/span>gaps and inadequacies<\/span><\/a> in government schemes in Uttar Pradesh \u2014 like the Swacchh Bharat Mission and gaps in access to education and food welfare \u2014received notices or were booked by the police. Various state officials such as District Magistrates, sub-divisional magistrates, members of the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force and the UP Police were involved in hounding journalists.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n The brutal gang rape of a Dalit teenager in Hathras district placed the spotlight on Uttar Pradesh for its troubling record of crimes and violence against women. The UP government tried its best to control media coverage of the incident and <\/span>banned the media<\/span><\/a> from entering the village where the crime was committed.<\/span><\/p>\n Siddique Kappan a journalist who wrote for <\/span>Malayalam news organisations<\/span><\/a> was on his way to Hathras when he and three others were charged under the UAPA and the IT Act in October 2020. <\/span>The FIR by the UP Police against them claimed that they were going to Hathras with an intention \u201cto breach the peace\u201d as part of a \u201cconspiracy\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n The Enforcement Directorate (ED) also got involved and <\/span>filed a chargesheet<\/span><\/a> in 2021<\/span><\/a> against Kappan and others, <\/span>accusing them of money laundering<\/span><\/a>. They were charged on grounds of their association with the Popular Front of India and its student wing the Campus Front of India (CFI), which according to the ED were involved in funding and participating in the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act, the 2020 Delhi riots and protests against the Hathras gangrape.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The introduction of new Farm Bills in September 2020 which brought thousands of farmers to the streets in protest, especially in North India, received wide coverage in the media. But many journalists who covered the protests also bore the brunt of police violence and legal action.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0First information reports (FIRs) were filed by the police in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh against six journalists Rajdeep Sardesai, Mrinal Pande, Zafar Agha, Vinod Jose, Paresh Nath, and Anant Nath \u2013 and Congress politician Shashi Tharoor for <\/span>“misreporting”<\/span><\/a> on a Republic Day farmers rally. The FIRs were filed in connection with tweets by the journalists about the death of a protester during the rally. <\/span>Most of the FIRs <\/span>cited IPC sections<\/span><\/a> related to sedition, criminal intimidation, promoting enmity, provocation to break public peace, criminal conspiracy and outraging religious feelings. The journalists were also <\/span>booked<\/span><\/a> under the Information Technology Act. An FIR was also filed against an <\/span>editor<\/span><\/a> who published an article questioning the events which led to the death of the protester. Delhi Police detained at least <\/span>two journalists<\/span><\/a> covering the farmer protests.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Hindu<\/span><\/i><\/a> newspaper said in an editorial that the FIRs were <\/span>“part of the now-familiar practice of weaving a narrative of an imagined threat to national security\u201d. \u00a0\u201cIt also shows a tendency not to miss an opportunity to harass and intimidate journalists.\u201d The government also employed <\/span>the National Investigative Agency (NIA) to summon 40 protesters for questioning, including a <\/span>Punjab-based journalist<\/span><\/a> for their supposed links to a separatist group.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_4″ _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_sidebar _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default”][\/et_pb_sidebar][et_pb_blurb admin_label=”Blurb” _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”-3px||-14px|-25px||” animation_style=”fade” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_blurb][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”8px|||||”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_image src=”http:\/\/x7t.a3b.myftpupload.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/LAW_000_8RJ4X2-protest-in-opposition-to-atrocities-against-women-in-Utaar-Pradesh-Dibyangshu-SARKAR-AFP.jpg” title_text=”INDIA-CRIME-ASSAULT-PROTEST” force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”caption” _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”6671dcc6-349c-4400-ae04-612e8c6d39b3″ text_font=”Actor||||||||” text_line_height=”1.5em” header_font_size=”39px” header_3_text_color=”#FF0000″ custom_margin=”-27px||||false|false” custom_padding=”31px||1px||false|false” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Activists of the Congress party with party flags walk in a rally protesting in opposition to atrocities against women in Utaar Pradesh and all over the country, following the alleged gang-rape and murder of a 19-year-old woman in Bool Garhi village of Uttar Pradesh state, in Kolkata on October 6, 2020. Credit: Dibyangshu SARKAR \/ AFP<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”3_4,1_4″ _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”43px|auto|12px|auto|false|false” custom_padding=”9px|||||”][et_pb_column type=”3_4″ _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default”]<\/p>\n Conditions for freedom of expression were far from encouraging across the country, but in Kashmir, given the government\u2019s tight control of the media, the curbs resulted in serious day to day challenges for journalists. Kashmiri journalists are forced to regularly reckon with the might of the state, exercised through detention, raids, arbitrary slapping of the UAPA, physical assaults by the police and their reports repeatedly denounced as fake news.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n While the UAPA became a common tool to <\/span>clamp down<\/span> on student leaders, activists and journalists across the country, in Kashmir, the UAPA was used by the government \u2018<\/span><\/p>\nDanish Karokhel<\/strong>, the director of Afghanistan\u2019s biggest news agency, Pajhwok Afghan News<\/a>, was subjected to intense questioning and harassment after the agency reported that 32 ventilators intended for Afghan coronavirus patients had been stolen and sold to Pakistan<\/a>.<\/span><\/h3>\n
<\/p>\nThe legal environment for journalists in Bangladesh is also circumscribed by poorly defined defamation laws which are arbitrarily implemented. For instance, magistrates permit unrelated third parties to bring defamation cases on behalf of someone ostensibly injured, leading to a serious chilling effect on freedom of expression.<\/span><\/h3>\n
<\/p>\nJournalists were booked for \u2018fake news\u2019 under the IPC sections 505<\/a> (statements likely to create public alarm or likely to incite the public) and 506 (criminal intimidation) for public mischief and criminal intimidation.<\/span><\/h3>\n
Pandemic and lockdown<\/h3>\n
Hathras gang rape<\/h3>\n
Farmer protests<\/h3>\n
<\/p>\nJournalists from various parts of the country such as Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Bihar and Maharashtra were booked for critical reporting around government handling of the pandemic.<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n
Reckoning with the might of the state<\/h3>\n