SN Misra
India has slipped two points on the World Press Freedom Index ranking to 140 among 180 countries as rated by Reporters Without Borders (RWB). This index measures the level of freedom available to journalists on seven parameters: Level of pluralism, media independence, environment and self-censorship, transparency, legal framework and quality of infrastructure supporting production of news and information. It neither measures quality of journalism, nor at human rights violations. RWB tries to reflect on the degree of freedom journalists, news organisations and netizens have in each country and efforts being taken by authorities in power to respect this freedom.
Norway has topped the list and Sweden placed second just as in the previous year. South Asian countries have fared poorly on the index with Pakistan at 139, Myanmar at 137, Sri Lanka at 131, Bangladesh at 146 and China at 176.
Threats, insults and attacks are part of occupational hazards for journalists in many countries. In India critics of Hindu nationalism are branded ‘anti Indian’ and harassed online
The reasons for the slippage of India’s ranking on the index are not far to seek. They include the killing of journalists at work, and hate speech targeting journalists getting amplified on social networks. Six Indian journalists were killed in 2018, including Gauri Lankesh, a newspaper editor. They represented non-English outlets in rural areas. According to RWB: “In India, hate speech targeting journalists is shared and amplified on social networks, often by troll armies in PM Modi’s pay.”
Christophe Deloire, the Secretary General of RWB says: “The unleashing of hatred towards journalists is one of the worst threats to democracy. Political leaders who fuel loathing for reporters bear heavy responsibility, because they undermine the concept of public debate based on facts, instead of propaganda. To dispute the legitimacy of journalism today is to play with extremely dangerous political fire.”
The report also underscores Section 124(A) of IPC, under which sedition is punishable by life imprisonment. This is a weak legal framework that India carries as a British raj relic. Though no journalist was imprisoned under this section, the law encourages self censorship. Also, the coverage of regions regarded sensitive by authorities, such as Kashmir, is quite difficult in India. “Foreign reporters are banned in the region and the internet is often disconnected there. The condition of local media outlets is particularly distressing in these areas.” When not detained, Kashmiri journalists working for local media outlets are often targets of violence by soldiers, acting with the central government’s tacit consent.
RWB reports that many authoritarian regimes have further fallen in the index. They include Venezuela (148), where journalists have been victims of arrest and violence by security forces. Russia is at 149, where Kremlin used arrests, arbitrary searches and draconian laws to step up pressure on independent media and the internet. The United States has also fallen by three places in this year’s index 49. The media climate under Donald Trump is now classified as ‘problematic’. Never before have US journalists been subject to so many death threats or turned so often to private security firms for protection.
Threats, insults and attacks are part of occupational hazards for journalists in many countries. In India critics of Hindu nationalism are branded ‘anti Indian’ and harassed online. The totalitarian campaign and cyber harassment in countries of Asia-Pacific exhibit all the problems that can beset journalism. Disinformation is becoming a huge problem in the region. As a result of manipulation of social networks in Myanmar, anti-Rohingya messages have become commonplace. Under China’s growing influence, censorship is now spreading to Singapore, ranked 151.
In India, freedom of the press is not specifically included as a fundamental right in the Constitution, unlike in the US Constitution. The National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution (NCRWC) (2002) had suggested that Article 19(1)(a) should be amended to include “the freedom of press and other media, the freedom to hold opinions and to seek, receive and impact information and ideas”.
The Supreme Court of India has been valiantly trying to defend the offences under sedition (Section 124A of IPC). In the recent case of Kanhaiya Kumar vs State of NCT of Delhi (2016), the Delhi High Court has released him on bail as the ‘allegation of anti-national sloganeering’ and ‘sedition’ was not found to be conclusive. In the People’s Union of Civil Liberties vs Union of India (1996), telephone tapping was considered violative of Article 19(1)(a). In a landmark judgement, Bennett Coleman & Co vs Union of India (1972), the restriction on the number of papers of a newspaper was considered invalid. There is thus an urgent need to amend the Constitution to make freedom of the press an explicit fundamental right.
The World Press Freedom Index report stands in sharp contrast to the World Bank report on Ease of Doing Business, where India jumped 23 steps to rank 77. It has also been reported how a team of experts lobbied with the World Bank to improve India’s ranking. This is not uncommon, as this year’s Nobel Laureate in Economics, Paul Romer, had resigned as chief economist from the World Bank in 2018, as he noticed how the ranking of Chile in ease of doing business was brought down by methodological changes and ideological bias towards socialism.
As India’s general elections go through an overdose of nationalism, jingoism and populism, an analysis by renowned economists Abhijit Banerjee and Thomas Piketty in March this year brings out how voters in India seem to be less driven by economic interests such as quality of education, healthcare and jobs, than by sectarian interests and cultural priorities. Political conflicts are more based on ‘identity’ and ‘religion’, rather than material benefits and redistribution of wealth. Benjamin Franklin, whose autobiography our prime minister is very fond of, wrote: “Those who give up liberty for security deserve neither.” The report produced by the RWB could not have been a more timely reminder of the need to bolster press freedom as the fourth arm of democracy.
The writer teaches development economics. e-Mail: misra.sn54@gmail.com