‘Attack on free press’

NT Correspondent

New Delhi: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called the Union government’s order to block a BBC documentary about Prime Minister Narendra Modi an “attack on the free press” and asked the authorities to withdraw regulations under the IT Act that “imperil press freedom and freedom of expression online”.

“The Indian government’s order to social media platforms to block a BBC documentary about Prime Minister Narendra Modi is an attack on the free press that flagrantly contradicts the country’s stated commitment to democratic ideals,” said Beh Lih Yi, CPJ’s Asia programme coordinator, in a statement.

“Authorities must immediately restore full and unrestricted access to the documentary and withdraw regulations under the Information Technology Act that imperil press freedom and freedom of expression online,” the statement read.

On January 20, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting ordered YouTube and Twitter to take down links sharing the first episode of the two-part BBC documentary, tilted ‘India: The Modi Question‘, which probed Prime Minister Modi’s alleged complicity in the 2002 anti-Muslim violence