Alt News cofounder's arrest is front-page news, even as India pledges to protect free speech online

Leading English newspapers today united in reporting last night's arrest of Alt News cofounder Mohammed Zubair – an arrest described by the Committee to Protect Journalists as "another low for press freedom in India".

Zubair was arrested by the Delhi police over a four-year-old tweet; charges against him include hurting religious sentiments and promoting enmity.

CPJ said Indian authorities must "immediately and unconditionally" release Zubair and "cease harassing him in retaliation for his work". Its report was reposted on Twitter by CPJ's president Jodie Ginsberg and the Washington Post's press freedom initiative.

French politician Pierre Larrouturou also tweeted a photo of himself holding a poster that read "Free Teesta Setalvad and Zubair". He tweeted that India's government "must stop suppressing journalists and human rights defenders, and respect personal liberties of all its citizens".

In English dailies in India, leading the way was Indian Express, which deliberately placed the report on Zubair's arrest next to a story on India vowing to protect free speech. India had signed a "2022 Resilient Democracies Statement" with other countries committing to protect "freedom of expression and opinion online and offline".

The Telegraph linked Zubair's arrest with the recent arrest of activist Teesta Setalvad. The strap on page 1 said the arrests "stink of settling scores with a vengeance". On Alt News, it said, "Its founders have routinely faced online trolling and police cases lodged by Right-wing groups over the past few years."

The Hindu also had the news on page 1, reporting that opposition leaders like Shashi Tharoor, Supriya Shrinate and Derek O'Brien had strongly condemned the arrest. O'Brien described Zubair as "one of the world's finest journalists who exposes the BJP's #FakeNews factory every single day".

The arrest was the lead story on the front page of the New Indian Express in Chennai. It pointed out that it had been Zubair who had posted the infamous Nupur Sharma clip that triggered a "major global controversy" and the case that now led to his arrest "was about a tweet way back in 2018".

Times of India placed the news on page 1 of its Delhi edition. The story had, in bold, Digipub's condemnation of Zubair's arrest, saying: "Digipub, a body of digital news organisations, slammed 'unjustifiable' use of 'stringent laws as tools against journalists'."

Hindustan Times reported on the G7 summit at length on page 1, including how countries pledged to strengthen the "resilience of our democracies". The report on Zubair's arrest featured just below, with the headline "Journalist who flagged Prophet remark arrest by Delhi police".

Last night, a magistrate in Delhi sent Zubair to one day in police custody. Alt News cofounder Pratik Sinha said the Delhi police had sought seven days' custody but the magistrate declined.



source https://www.newslaundry.com/2022/06/28/alt-news-cofounders-arrest-is-front-page-news-even-as-india-pledges-to-protect-free-speech-online

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sushant Rajput case to Zubair arrest: The rise and rise of cop KPS Malhotra

“Time is not a factor. An old tweet becomes new just by a retweet. Police action is contingent upon when police takes cognisance of an issue,” KPS Malhotra, deputy commissioner of Delhi police, told the news agency ANI after the cyber crimes division he heads arrested Alt News cofounder Muhammad Zubair on Monday. Zubair’s arrest is under a cloud of suspicion, drawing condemnation from several press bodies, including the Editors Guild and the Press Club of India. The journalist was called for questioning in a 2020 case in which he has protection from arrest from the Delhi high court, only to be held for allegedly hurting religious sentiments and promoting enmity through a four-year-old tweet , which an anonymous tweeter who has since vanished from the social media platform apparently found offensive. Zubair’s is the latest high-profile case to be investigated by Malhotra, who was chosen to lead the cyber cell – officially Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations – last Septemb
Read more

प्राइम टाइम पर हिंदू राष्ट्र की चर्चा: सीएनएन न्यूज़-18 पर पुरी शंकराचार्य का इंटरव्यू

Image
“क्या अपने कर्म के द्वारा अपने वर्ण को बदला जा सकता है, क्योंकि कहीं न कहीं यहीं पर समाज में बसे ज्यादा कुंठा है?” “ऐसा है कि विदुरजी थे तो, ब्राह्मण तो नहीं माने गए, लेकिन ब्राह्मणोचित शील और स्वभाव को धारण कर सकते हैं. लेकिन ब्राह्मण की बेटी से विवाह नहीं कर सकते.” पुरी स्थित गोवर्धन मठ के शंकराचार्य का ये जातिवादी जवाब वायरल हो रहा है. यह बातचीत सीएनएन न्यूज़-18 पर शंकराचार्य के साथ हुई. इस पूरी बातचीत में सबसे ज्यादा चर्चा इस बात की हो रही है कि सामने बैठे पत्रकार (आनंद नरसिम्हन) ने शंकराचार्य से पलट कर सवाल क्यों नहीं किया. वह बस मुस्कराते रहे. शंकराचार्य के जातिगत श्रेष्ठता जैसे मूर्खतापूर्ण तर्क पत्रकार ने कोई प्रतिकार दर्ज नहीं किया, उल्टे नतमस्तक होकर दांत दिखाता रहा.  सीएनएन न्यूज़18 के आनंद नरसिम्हन ने इस पूरे इंटरव्यू के दौरान शायद ही पलटकर कोई सवाल किया हो. बल्कि कुछ सवाल भी ऐसे थे जो सीधे तौर पर जातिवाद, सांप्रदायिकता को बढ़ावा देने वाले थे.  इंटरव्यू के दौरान आनंद हिंदू राष्ट्र की अवधारणा पर भी सवाल करते हैं, वे पूछते हैं, “कुछ लोग कहते हैं कि भारत को हिंदू राष्ट्र घ
Read more

Unravelling the friction between CPIM and Kerala’s major media houses

Image
Malayalam news anchor Hashmi Taj Ibrahim, known for his passionate delivery of opinions on his show Encounter , unleashed a powerful monologue in defence of his colleague Vineetha VG, recently named in a bizarre case.  The drama unfolded on December 23, 2023 after Vineetha, simply reporting on a protest where a shoe was hurled at Pinarayi Vijayan’s vehicle, found herself accused of conspiring against Pinarayi. This absurdity ignited a wave of outrage among journalists, culminating in Hashmi's electrifying on-camera address. “Phone call snippets and flimsy accusations? That's not how you silence us,” Hashmi said. “Vineetha is one of us, and we stand by her.” He challenged the authorities: “If you are doing this only to scare us – knowing well that the case is a sham and will fail miserably in the court – register 100 cases, not just one. We are not going to cut off our tongues and place them in baskets to do your bidding.” Ironically, Hashmi is a former leader of the Student
Read more