New Delhi: Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has urged political parties in India to commit to press freedom and suggested concrete measures that aim to “defend the right to reliable news and information and protect journalists”.
“It is unacceptable that the country portrayed as the world’s biggest democracy now lacks so many of the safeguards needed to sustain a free and diverse press. It is unacceptable that Indian journalists and foreign reporters are subjected to so much obstruction in their day-to-day work,”Célia Mercier, head of RSF’s South Asia Desk said.
She added: “There is an urgent need for political parties to affirm their commitment to safeguarding the public’s right to reliable, diverse and independent information, and to adopting measures to end the continuous erosion of press freedom seen in India during the past decade. We offer them ten key measures to include in their programmes.”
The RSF has suggested the political parties who are in the electoral fray must commit to press freedom by adopting ten key recommendations.
First, the non-profit organisation has urged political parties to immediately free the nine arbitrarily detained journalists, including five from the northern Jammu and Kashmir region.
Second, the RSF has underlined that there is a need to “overhaul the terrorism laws” such as Unlawful Activities Prevention Amendment Act 2019 (UAPA) and the Public Safety Act (PSA) “so that they can no longer be used to persecute journalists”.
Third, the international NGO has highlighted the need to end censorship and surveillance of journalists. “New legislation allows, or will allow, the censorship of publications, surveillance of journalists and violation of the confidentiality of their sources. This is the case with the Telecom Bill, 2023, the Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill, 2023, the Information Technology Amendment Rules, 2023 and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023. This legislation must be amended so that it cannot be used to obstruct journalists’ work,” the RSF said.
Fourth, the RSF has recommended establishing an independent commission of enquiry into cases of spying on journalists. As The Wire had earlier reported, at least 15 Indian journalists have been targeted by deploying the Israeli-firm NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware since 2021 with complete impunity.
Fifth, the RSF has mentioned that protection of the confidentiality of journalists’ sources is important to attain press freedom. “The seizure of journalistic equipment must be limited to strictly defined exceptional circumstances and subject to the control of an independent judicial authority. This is essential in order to safeguard the confidentiality of journalists’ sources, which are currently not protected because journalists’ equipment can be seized without restriction,” the RSF wrote.
Sixth, noting that a small number of private-sector companies and conglomerates currently own India’s leading media outlets, the RSF has underlined that there is a need to safeguard pluralism by regulating media concentration and introducing legislation to end monopolies and restrict cross-ownership.
Seventh, the non-profit has pointed out that there is a need to establish a mechanism for guaranteeing the physical and digital safety of journalists, especially those who say they are being threatened.
Eighth, the RSF has called for stopping arbitrary Internet shutdowns which “violate international law, obstructs journalists’ work and encourages the spread of fake news and disinformation, especially during elections”. Further, the organisation has pointed out that in 2023, the authorities have shut down the Internet for a total of 5,000 hours in Manipur alone.
Ninth, the organisation has underlined that there is a need to end the restrictions on access to certain parts of the country. For instance, reporters were not allowed to enter Haldwani in February when there were communal clashes earlier this year. Moreover, foreign journalists have to obtain special permits to visit 10 of India’s 36 states and territories, the RSF noted.
Tenth, the RSF has highlighted that “India has stepped up reprisals against foreign journalists, above all by giving them shorter visas or denying them work permits.” The international NGO, thus, called for safeguarding the rights of foreign media to cover India.
Also read: 16 Indian Journalists Have Been Charged Under UAPA, 7 Are Currently Behind Bars
Notably, India is now ranked as low as 161 out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2023 World Press Freedom Index. Since 2014, at least 28 journalists have been killed and nine are currently imprisoned, as per RSF. For instance, Prabir Purkayastha, editor of NewsClick, has been incarcerated under the draconian UAPA since October last year.
On February 29, Kashmiri journalist Aasif Sultan was rearrested in connection with an old case of unlawful activities filed by Srinagar district police in which he was named as an accused, after he was set free the previous day. Sultan has been in jail since August 2018.
“Terrorism laws are being misused to persecute media personnel. The police and tax agencies are constantly deployed to silence independent media. Journalists are routinely subjected to the scourge of disinformation campaigns, while access to India is getting increasingly restricted for foreign journalists,” the RSF mentioned.