Crime Today News
News outlet The Wire on Friday said that the Union government had blocked access to its English website in India “in a clear violation of the Constitutional guarantee of freedom of the press”.
Internet service providers had said that The Wire’s website was “blocked as per the order of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology under the IT Act, 2000”, stated the news outlet.
“We protest this blatant censorship at a critical time for India when sane, truthful, fair and rational voices and sources of news and information are among the biggest assets that India has,” it said. “We are taking all necessary steps to challenge this arbitrary and inexplicable move.”
This comes amid escalating tensions and cross-border strikes between India and Pakistan after the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam on April 22.
On Thursday, India blocked the social media accounts of at least four other news portals – Maktoob Media, The Kashmiriyat, Free Press Kashmir and the United States-based Muslim.
The accounts of the news portals were blocked in response to legal demands by the Indian government, according to social media platforms X and Instagram.
The accounts of Maktoob Media, Free Press Kashmir and The Kashmiriyat have been blocked on X, while that of Muslim has been blocked on Instagram. However, the websites of all four news outlets were accessible in India.
In the case of The Wire, while the website itself has been blocked, its social media accounts remain operational.
Digipub, an association of independent news organisations and journalists, on Friday described the blocking of The Wire’s website as a “blatant attack on press freedom”.
“This is a critical time for the nation and such actions impede rational thinking,” said the association. “The urgency and horrors of the battle cannot be used as an excuse to silence independent journalism.”
Condemning the blocking of the website, Digipub demanded that it be restored immediately.
The Editors Guild of India stated that it was against the blocking of websites of journalists and news organisations.
“Due process and principles of natural justice must always be followed,” said the press body.
Earlier in the day, a post by X’s Global Government Affairs about India’s request to block 8,000 accounts in the country was “withheld”.
The unit had said a day ago that the platform had received orders from the Indian government requiring it to block the accounts, “subject to potential penalties including significant fines and imprisonment of the company’s local employees”.
The orders included demands to block access in India to accounts belonging to international news organisations and prominent X users, it added. The billionaire Elon Musk-led social media platform said that it would withhold the specified accounts in India alone to comply with the orders.
“However, we disagree with the Indian government’s demands,” the platform had said. “Blocking entire accounts is not only unnecessary, it amounts to censorship of existing and future content, and is contrary to the fundamental right of free speech.”
On Friday, the webpage of the post said that it was withheld “in response to a legal demand”.
This article first appeared on Scroll.in
📰 Crime Today News is proudly sponsored by DRYFRUIT & CO – A Brand by eFabby Global LLC
Design & Developed by Yes Mom Hosting
