Press censorship and media freedom violations in India during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Over the past five years, India’s rank in the World Press Freedom Index has dropped from 136 to 142. Violent attacks, including murder, made against journalists are common in India and are hardly punished. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has only intensified these negative trends. During the nationwide lockdown to stop the spread of COVID-19, journalists across India were charged with sedition and summoned to police stations for reporting on the government’s handling of the pandemic. The incumbent government had also asked the Supreme Court to impose nationwide censorship on the publication of information that the government deemed “false or inaccurate.” By censoring information about the coronavirus, it is preventing media from holding those in power accountable. Through this research, we aim to understand how COVID-19 has affected press censorship in India and the ramifications of the same, by looking at instances of censorship in media and press freedom violations occurring during the pandemic and comparison with past trends. We also look at measures taken, and tools used by various government organizations to censor media coverage and justify the above incidents, the response of the journalist community to these actions through interviews with 3 prominent journalists, as well as awareness of these incidents among the general population through a survey and patterns, if any in the medium as well as subject matter of the content that was subjected to censorship.