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authorities invoked these provisions to restrict print media, broadcast media, digital
media platforms, and publication or distribution of books.
According to several journalists, press freedom declined during the year. There
were several reports from journalists and NGOs that government officials, at both
the local and national levels, were involved in silencing or intimidating critical
media outlets through physical harassment and attacks, pressuring owners,
targeting sponsors, encouraging frivolous lawsuits, and in some areas blocking
communication services, such as mobile telephones and the internet, and
constraining freedom of movement.
The Reporters without Borders 2020 World Press Freedom Index identified press
freedom violations by police, political activists, criminal groups, and corrupt local
officials. Physical attacks and “coordinated hate campaigns waged on social
networks” against journalists were cited as major areas of concern. Harassment
and violence against journalists were particularly acute for female journalists.
Journalists working in Jammu and Kashmir continued to face barriers to free
reporting through communications and movement restrictions. According to the
report, pressure on media to amplify government perspectives increased following
the May 2019 national elections. Criminal prosecutions were often used to gag
journalists critical of the authorities, including the use of a section of the penal
code that includes sedition punishable by life imprisonment.
In February the Kashmir Press Club stated security agencies had routinely
deployed intimidation tactics such as threats, summonses, and physical attacks on
journalists in Jammu and Kashmir. On February 8, journalists Naseer Ganai and
Haroon Nabi were summoned to the police facility, where they were questioned for
reporting on a statement by the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front.
In June the Jammu and Kashmir government released the Media Policy--2020,
which authorizes the Directorate of Information and Publication Relations to
“examine” the content of print, electronic, and other forms of media for “fake
news, plagiarism, and unethical or antinational activities” in the name of law and
order. Under the new media policy, government action could range from legal
proceedings against journalists for “indulging in fake news, unethical or
antinational activities, or plagiarism” to withholding advertisements to any media
that “incite or tends to incite violence, question sovereignty and the integrity of
India, or violate the accepted norms of public decency and behavior.”
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2020
United States Department of State • Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor