India / Asia

  
Journalists use the internet inside a government-run media center in Srinagar on January 10, 2020. The Indian Supreme Court today criticized internet restrictions that have obstructed the media for five months. (Reuters/Danish Ismail)

India should restore internet in Kashmir as court orders shutdown review

New York, January 10, 2020–The Indian Supreme Court ordered a review of the legal process used to implement the ongoing shutdown in Indian-controlled Kashmir today. The ruling affirmed that freedom of speech “using the medium of internet is constitutionally protected.”

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Freelance journalist Santosh Yadav, left, with human rights defender Shalini Gera and CPJ India Correspondent Kunal Majumder, during a convention on journalist safety in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, in February 2019. A court on January 2 acquitted Yadav of several charges, ending a four-year legal battle. (CPJ)

‘I feel like a weight has been lifted’ freelance journalist Santosh Yadav says as Chhattisgarh court ends four-year legal nightmare

On January 2, freelance journalist Santosh Yadav got his life back when the National Investigation Agency court in Jagdalpur acquitted him of charges of helping Maoists militants. The ruling marked the end of a legal nightmare that lasted over four years for Yadav, who says that he was threatened and beaten in custody, before being…

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Police officers chase protesters in New Delhi, India, on December 17, 2019. Several journalists have been attacked since the protests began. (AP/Manish Swarup)

Journalists attacked by police, disrupted by demonstrators while covering protests in India

New York, December 17, 2019 — Indian authorities must ensure the safety of all journalists covering protests across the country, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Telangana police have accused Nellutla Venugopal, editor of Telugu monthly Veekshanam, of being part of a Maoist conspiracy against the state. (Image via Venugopal)

Indian police accuse journalist Nellutla Venugopal of being part of a Maoist conspiracy

New Delhi, November 20, 2019 — Police in India’s Telangana state should immediately drop their allegations against journalist Nellutla Venugopal and stop harassing journalists for their political leanings, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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The Indian government has threatened to revoke the overseas citizenship of journalist Aatish Taseer, who has criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (Image used with permission)

Indian government threatens to cancel journalist Aatish Taseer’s overseas citizenship

New Delhi, November 7, 2019 — The Indian government must cease making threats to revoke the overseas citizenship of journalist Aatish Taseer, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Karnataka state police are seen in Bangalore on June 7, 2018. Police recently arrested publisher Doddipalya Narasimha Murthy in a 25-year-old case. (AFP/Manjunath Kiran)

Indian police accuse publisher of treason in 25-year-old case

New Delhi, November 1, 2019 — Karnataka police must immediately release Indian publisher Doddipalya Narasimha Murthy, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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The logo of the Israeli NSO Group company is shown on a building where they had offices in Herzliya, Israel. WhatsApp has accused NSO Group of selling technology to help governments spy on WhatsApp users, including journalists. (AP/Daniella Cheslow)

Indian journalists reported among targets of alleged NSO Group WhatsApp hack

New York, October 31, 2019—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by news reports that several journalists in India have been notified that they were among the targets of suspicious WhatsApp contact that may have been used to install advanced surveillance technology on their phones. Facebook-owned WhatsApp this week said it filed a lawsuit accusing…

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Getting Away with Murder

CPJ’s 2019 Global Impunity Index spotlights countries where journalists are slain and their killers go free Published October 29, 2019 Somalia is the world’s worst country for the fifth year in a row when it comes to prosecuting murderers of journalists, CPJ’s 2019 Global Impunity Index found. War and political instability have fostered a deadly…

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Indian paramilitary soldiers use their cellphones in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, on October 14, 2019 after the partial lifting of a communications lockdown in place since India's government downgraded the region's semi-autonomy in August. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)

India uses opaque legal process to suppress Kashmiri journalism, commentary on Twitter

On August 10, 2018, the Indian government informed Twitter that an account belonging to Kashmir Narrator, a magazine based in Jammu and Kashmir, was breaking Indian law. The magazine had recently published a cover story on a Kashmiri militant who fought against Indian rule. By the end of the month, Indian police had arrested the…

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Ravi Prakash, founder of independent Telugu news website Tolivelugu, is pictured after Hyderabad police arrested him on October 5, 2019.

Telugu journalist Ravi Prakash arrested after refusal to remove online interviews

New Delhi, October 8, 2019 — The government of India’s Telangana state must immediately release Ravi Prakash, founder of independent Telugu news website Tolivelugu, and ensure he is not harassed because of his work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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