NEW DELHI (AP) – When Vinod K. Jose, executive editor of The Caravan, India’s leading research journal, logged on to Twitter on Monday, he was surprised to see that the magazine’s account was blocked.
Jose was already dealing with a case of sedition and other charges against him, magazine owners and a freelance journalist. At the heart of the allegations is the magazine’s coverage of the ongoing protests by farmers who have been taking over India for more than two months.
As peasants camp on the outskirts of the capital, protesting new agricultural laws that say they will devastate their incomes, the mainstream and social media have received unprecedented attacks from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party. Critics say he has used the massive demonstrations to increase repression of free speech, detention of journalists and the freezing of Twitter accounts.
“It’s a very creepy development for the press,” said Apar Gupta, executive director of the Internet Freedom Foundation, a digital rights advocacy group.
Jose shared a screenshot of the blocked account from his personal manager. Outrage soon ensued. Activists, journalists and media watchdogs rushed to condemn Twitter, which said it had acted on a “valid legal request” issued by an Indian authority.
Hundreds of India’s Twitter accounts were suspended on Monday, including those from news websites, activists and a farmers ’union. Some, including The Caravan’s, have since been restored.
Offline, at least nine journalists have been charged in recent weeks for covering the protests.
The trigger for the reduction was the death of a protester, Navneet Singh, when peaceful rallies turned violent on January 26 after a group of peasants withdrew from an agreed protest route and stormed the fort. 17th century red of New Delhi. Hundreds of police and farmers were injured in clashes.
Peasant leaders condemned the violence but refused to call off the protest.
Authorities say no shots were fired and Singh died because his tractor overturned. His family alleged he was shot dead. His account has been published by several outlets, including The Caravan.
Modi government ministers accused journalists and a prominent opposition parliamentarian of inciting hatred and endangering the nation’s integrity through inaccurate reports and tweets. It led to the filing of accusations of sedition from the colonial era, with a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
The law, like its equivalent in other former British colonies, is considered draconian and was repealed in the UK in 2010.
Trials for sedition charges are rare, but their use to silence journalists, critics and dissidents in India is not new and previous governments had resorted to it. But official data shows that the Modi government has used the law more than any other, up almost 30%. It has also repeatedly rejected repeal claims.
Calls and messages from four BJP spokespersons seeking comments went unanswered. Calls to the party’s media cabinet were also unsuccessful.
Protection groups and media rights, including Human Rights Watch, condemned the government’s actions as censorship. The Publishers’ Union of India said the cases against journalists were “an attempt to intimidate, harass, slap and suffocate the media”.
Daniel Bastard, head of the Asia-Pacific Cabinet of Reporters Without Borders, said the government was trying to impose its own narrative.
Critics say India under Modi is increasingly intolerant. Its ranking in the World Press Freedom Index has fallen each year and ranked 142nd out of 180 places in 2020.
Reporters Without Borders pointed to “police violence against journalists” and increased “pressure on the media to confront the line of the Hindu nationalist government” as the main reason for the degradation.
But similarly, Twitter’s reaction to suspending accounts has also “set a terrible precedent” for freedom of speech and press, Jose said.
“We like Twitter to stay neutral instead of being vulnerable to power pressures,” he said.
India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology communicated on Twitter on Monday that it ordered the company to withdraw accounts that had used incendiary hashtags during the January 26 violence. But Jose said The Caravan never used those hashtags and that Twitter did not notify the magazine before suspending his account.
The ministry did not respond to calls and emails, but issued another statement on Wednesday, accusing Twitter of “unilaterally” restoring accounts “despite retention orders.”
He said the platform had to comply with authorities’ instructions and could face criminal charges “for failing to comply with government orders”.
Twitter declined to comment.
Gupta, of the Internet Freedom Foundation, said the IT law the government invoked to freeze Twitter accounts gives it the power to direct online intermediaries and Internet service providers to block certain contents without providing any explanation.
“In the past, governments had blocked individual newspaper accounts, but blocking an account of an entire publication is a level of escalation,” Gupta said.
The government’s response to farmers ’protests has gone beyond India’s borders.
On Wednesday, India’s Foreign Ministry condemned “created interest groups trying to enforce its agenda” after pop star Rihanna and teen climate activist Greta Thunberg tweeted in favor of the protests.
Nor have Indian artists been spared.
On January 1, Muslim comedian Munawar Faruqui was arrested for allegedly insulting Hindu sentiments while performing in Indore, a city in the state of Madhya Pradesh ruled by the Modi party.
In India, intentionally injuring religious feelings is a criminal offense. But Faruqui was arrested on remand even before his action began.
“Before he made the joke, before he could actually start the show, the police came and dragged him,” said Anshuman Shrivastava, Faruqui’s lawyer.
The show was canceled and since then police have admitted he has no evidence against the comic. The Supreme Court granted him temporary bail on Friday, after three lower courts refused to do so.
The Associated Press contacted five prominent comedians who did not want to speak in writing, but said they were increasingly afraid to make jokes against the Hindu government and religion.
“What we are witnessing right now is a flagrant violation of freedom of expression in India, which the government has legitimized in full public view,” said Sanjay Rajoura, a prominent Indian satirist. “The government came after the Muslims because they are an easily visible minority. But now it comes after anyone who has an intelligent and informed expression.
The anger of Hindu nationalist groups aligned with Modi’s party has also shocked the broadcast platforms. Many of his shows have faced boycott calls and legal cases. Recently, the Supreme Court issued a notice to Amazon Prime about its “Mirzapur” program after a petition claimed it harmed cultural sentiments.
These incidents have not inspired much faith in the courts, Jose de la Caravana said. He and the owners are still battling criminal charges.
“I hope the courts see that the world is seeing how the judiciary of the greatest democracy defends personal freedoms,” Jose said.