News Analysis India

Tag: Reporters Without Borders

  • Government doesn’t agree with India’s rank in World Press Freedom Index: Anurag Thakur in Parliament

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Centre does not agree to conclusions drawn by Reporters Without Borders about press freedom in India for various reasons, including very low sample size and little or no weightage to fundamentals of democracy, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting told Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

    In a written reply to a question on India being placed at 142 out of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index, compiled and published by the Reporters Without Borders this year, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said the adoption of the methodology by the publisher of the report is “questionable and non-transparent”.

    “The World Press Freedom Index is published by a foreign non government-organisation, Reporters Without Borders. The government does not subscribe to its views and country rankings and does not agree to the conclusions drawn by this organisation for various reasons, including very low sample size, little or no weightage to fundamentals of democracy, adoption of a methodology which is questionable and non-transparent, lack of clear definition of press freedom, among others,” he said.

    The minister asserted that the government is committed to ensure right to freedom of speech and expression enshrined under Article 19 of the Constitution of India.

    Replying to questions on the safety and freedom of journalists as well as on Tripura police recently booking 102 people, including media persons, under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, he said, “Police and public order are state subjects under the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India, and the state governments are responsible for prevention, detection, registration and investigation of crime and for prosecuting the criminals through their law enforcement agencies.”

    The central government attaches “highest importance” to the safety and security of “every citizen of the country, including journalists”, he said.

    “An advisory specifically on safety of journalists was issued to states/UTs on October 20, 2017, requesting them to strictly enforce the law to ensure the safety and security of media persons,” Thakur added.

  • ‘India among riskiest places to be a journalist’: Report disses Modi government’s media crackdown

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI:  An annual report put out by Reporters Without Borders on Tuesday listed India among the countries considered the most dangerous places in the world for journalists. India ranks 142 among 180 countries for the second year in a row in the 2021 World Press Freedom Index, published by the NGO.

    The report said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has tightened his government’s grip on media.

    It accused the supporters of the ruling BJP of creating an “intimidating environment” for journalists critical of the government, who are routinely labelled as “anti-national” or “anti-state”.

    Journalists were exposed to “every kind of attack, including police violence, ambushes by political activists, and reprisals instigated by criminal groups or corrupt local officials,” it said.

    The report also criticised the new IT rules which were brought in to regulate social media content and content on digital news sites.

    While Nepal ranked 106, Sri Lanka ranked 127. Pakistan and Bangladesh ranked 145 and 152 respectively.The World Press Freedom Index evaluated the press situations in 180 countries.

    The latest report concluded that 73 per cent of the world’s nations have serious issues with media freedoms.

    It says countries have used the pandemic “as grounds to block journalists’ access to information, sources and reporting in the field.” This is particularly the case in Asia and parts of Europe, the report noted.