The State flexes its muscles, other assaults continue unabated Free speech in India came under attack on all fronts in 2018. Alarmingly, even as assaults continued unabated, the State was all set to take on the mantle of the chief censor with repressive regulatory and surveillance mechanisms being put in place even as the year was winding down. There was no respite from the killings and attacks on media professionals, censorship of news, an unprecedented number of legal notices and defamation cases and sedition cases filed against journalists, social and political activists and citizens who voiced dissent. To make matters worse, there continued to be a high degree of Internet censorship throughout the year, with the highest number of shutdowns anywhere in the world. The Union government, through an order by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), authorized ten agencies to monitor, intercept and decrypt the digital devices of all citizens, an order that has grave implications for journalists. In 2018, seven journalists were killed in relation to their work, at least 27 incidents of attacks on 33 journalists, arrests of at least ten journalists and the detention of six others (including three foreign journalists), at least 17 instances of threats and harassment and 114 instances of censorship of news, film, academia, cultural events and public meetings. This report comes from the FreeSpeechCollective, which was formed in September 2018 to protect the right to freedom of expression and vigorously promote free speech and the right to dissent. This report seeks to analyse trends and flag important issues related to freedom of expression.
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Association for Progressive Communications (Ed.). Unshackling Expression: A Study on Laws Criminalising Expression Online in Asia. No place: Association for Progressive Communications.
While the internet has often been hailed for its empowering impact on people’s ability to express themselves, this potential can by no means be taken for granted. In India, as elsewhere, freedom of expression online is restricted in a number of ways. Focusing in particular on the criminalisation of freedom of expression but examining other barriers in law and policy as well, this report seeks to outline when and how laws in India are used to curtail the right to freedom of expression on the internet in ways that are overly broad. The report consists of seven sections. Following this introduction, we will briefly discuss the methodology we have followed in researching and writing this report. For those not familiar with the Indian legal landscape, we will then describe the different types of law that affect the right to free speech and expression on the internet in India. Section four is the heart of this report and examines in detail the laws, policies and case laws that criminalise freedom of expression on the internet in India in ways that are overly broad. In section five, we analyse a number of other important threats to free speech online that further constitute the context in which the criminalisation of freedom of expression on the internet in India has to be understood – from government-mandated content restrictions to mass surveillance. Finally, we briefly highlight draft laws and policies which we believe give cause for concern over future violations of the right to freedom of speech and expression. We conclude the report with a summary and our conclusions.
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International Journal of Research in Social Sciences
The Constitution of India lists-freedom of speech and expression‖ among the fundamental rights it guarantees, but it also justifiably allows the government to impose-reasonable restrictions‖ in the interest of-State, public order, decency or morality.‖
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In recent times, we have witnessed a spike in cases of hate speech, delivered either by the politicians or by the media that has resulted in violence among the public. Sensational reporting and discourse on critical issues just for the sake of viewership and notoriety has resulted in the tarnishing of an individual or community's image. This research examines the work of various authors and columnists, published on reputable websites. It is done in order to check the contemporary state of freedom of expression and the critical conditions of working journalists in India. The research also studies the status of freedom of the press and the upsurge in instances of hate speech in current times. The purpose of the study is to answer how the Indian government is restraining the individual's right to express, how the Indian politicians and media are liable for hate speeches by presenting biased views and prompted news, respectively. It demonstrates instances of hate speech where a .
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The Constitution of India gives a free democratic government to its people. Freedom of speech and expression is a sacred icon in the Constitution’s inner sanctum, which has been provided to the people in the Fundamental Rights chapter. This freedom is a central tenet of India’s constitutional faith. The members of the constituent Assembly had seen the oppressive and discriminatory regime of the Britishers. They all valued Freedom and Liberty. Textually, it is recognized in article 19 that also lists certain other fundamental freedoms that Indian citizens enjoy. Clause (1) (a) of that article protects free speech. With the help of some early cases involving Freedom of Speech and Expression, my paper would try to emphasize the importance of Freedom of Speech and Expression in any society and political set up. Prior restraint in the form of censorship is really a big challenge to the right of freedom of speech and expression, because in such a case, the creativity of the author may not see the light of the day. My Paper would focus on the fact that, the freedom of speech is the first pre-requisite of liberty. It occupies a preferred and important position in the hierarchy of the liberty, it is truly said about the freedom of speech that it is the mother of all other liberties. Freedom of Speech and expression means the right to express one's own views and opinions freely by words of mouth, writing, printing, pictures or any other mode. In present times, it is widely accepted that the right to freedom of speech is the essence of free society and it must be protected at all time. The first principle of a free society is a free flow of words in an open forum. Liberty to express opinions and ideas without hindrance, and especially without fear of punishment plays a vital role in the development of that particular society and ultimately for that state. It is one of the most important fundamental freedom liberties guaranteed against state suppression or regulation.
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The recent data shows the downslide of India's ranking in the press freedom. This short article analyses and cites the reasons and grey areas.
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There is nothing unknown about gags, bans, and restrictions on press. From the beginning of the printed text, there have been attempts to restrict the distribution of the certain information that the concerned individuals, organisations, parties, government or nation states may deem adverse to their interests. Throughout the world, the freedom of press has been curtailed at some point in time and there are historical events that elaborate upon how resources have been utilised to muzzle the voices that media tries to take to its audiences or the affected lot. Though it holds true that the freedom of speech and expression forms the cornerstone of any democracy, incidents of banning the press have been reported in abundance. There have been attempts to curb the press freedom but the voices against it also have been raised and significant resistance has led to a media industry of today that can boast of exposing the fallacies of people and systems. The institutional curbs on the freedom of press, purportedly, were put to normalise a situation of uncertainty and to block an alternative perspective, however, time and again it was met with serious resistance by the concerned thinkers and individuals. Such altercations led to formation of laws and guidelines to safeguard the freedom of press and also to put a check on the irresponsible flow of information. The notably resistance which can be traced to the historical philosophers is the Areopagitica by John Milton (1644) in which he criticized the England Parliament's 1643 Ordinance for the Regulating of Printing. His choice of printing and then distribution of his work in shape of pamphlets criticizing the existing law at that time was a defiance to the censor ship that as put on the printing of text at that time. Arguably, Milton‟s stand at that time was an absolute example of how the curbs by government institutions were met with resistance when put in public domain. The curbs are put on media in this age as well, equal resistance by the media practitioners and thinkers has been put forth. In India, the censorship and bans date back to its pre-Independence era. The introduction of Gagging Act in 1857 was is a documented evidence of how the Britishers wanted to curb the flow of information, which was used by Indian resistance leadership to mobilise the masses against the occupation. The Vernacular Press Act of 1887 and other stringent measures were adopted by the British government to curb the freedom of press in India. After Independence, there have also been incidents and measures taken by the government to curb the press freedom in India. Overt and covert attempts to muzzle press have been made which includes suspending publications, stopping of advertisements etc. Jammu and Kashmir, being a conflict-hit state in India, historically has been a vibrant society as for as media is concerned. With the publication of its first newspaper, Bidiya Bilas, in 1867, the historicity as well as censorship dates back to long time. The latest gag on newspapers in Kashmir was put in 2016 but there have been past incidences where the government of the time has used various methods to restrict, curb or end the freedom of press in Kashmir. This paper has l, thus, attempted to record the history of restrictions on the freedom of newspapers in Kashmir and also included events that led to the government action as well as the response by the publishers, editors and journalists.
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