News publishers' foundation DIGIPUB also noted that the danger of these searches being used to seize confidential, sensitive data existed.
Published Nov 01, 2022 | 12:43 AM ⚊ Updated Nov 01, 2022 | 12:44 AM
News foundation DIGIPUB has condemned the police searches at residences of journalists of The Wire, following a complaint by BJP spokesperson Amit Malviya over articles that claimed he used a Meta tool to censor content on the social media giant's platforms.
Hours after the police conducted searches at the homes of three editors and a reporter of news organisation the Wire, the DIGIPUB News India Foundation said in a statement on Monday, 31 October, that it perceived “malafide intentions” behind the actions.
The police searched the homes of Siddharth Varadarajan, MK Venu, Sidharth Bhatia, and Jahnavi Sen, on Monday.
They are said to have seized laptops, mobile phones, and other electronic devices from the editors’ residences.
The searches took place two days after BJP spokesperson Amit Malviya filed an FIR against them, accusing them of cheating, forgery, defamation, and criminal conspiracy.
The complaint resulted from a series of now-retracted stories published by the Wire alleging that Malviya had special censorship privileges through a programme of Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram’s parent Meta — called XCheck.
The articles were pulled on 23 October, when the Wire also asserted that it had been deceived by a member of its own investigative team.
Is this a Police State? Just because the BJP Media Chief has complained against @svaradarajan @mkvenu1 @jahnavi_sen of The Wire @thewire_in, Delhi police raid their houses! This is attack not only on upright journalism — very rare to find now — but to terrorise dissent. Shame!
— Jawhar Sircar (@jawharsircar) October 31, 2022
The publication of the articles created quite a few ripples in the news landscape of the country, which has been sliding down both the democracy and freedom-of-press indices on the global stage in recent times.
However, when the Wire retracted the articles, it gave detractors the chance to call into question other stories published by the outlet.
As it is, the Wire had already been under a great deal of pressure. According to an article in Slate: “The Wire has been targeted by Modi and the BJP’s vast network.”
Global non-profit Committee to Protect Journalists recently called the Wire the “worst-hit newsroom” in India. According to the CPJ report, half a dozen of its journalists — including founding editor MK Venu — were targeted by the Israeli spyware Pegasus.
Following Monday’s searches, DIGIPUB noted in its statement: “A journalist or a media organisation that publishes a false report ought to be held accountable by its peers and civil society.”
However, “for the police to carry out immediate and arbitrary search of editors’ homes” based entirely on a private complaint of defamation filed by a spokesperson of the ruling party “smacks of malafide intentions”, it added.
“Moreover, the danger of these searches being used as an excuse to seize and duplicate confidential and sensitive data held by The Wire cannot be dismissed,” said the foundation.
“While any fair investigation must follow the rule of law, it cannot become a tool to further worsen the already fraught state of journalism in India, which has steadily declined in global indices of media freedom and democracy,” it said in the statement.
“DIGIPUB strongly condemns in no uncertain terms the searches against the editors and reporter of The Wire, and urges which mainly serve the purpose of criminalising and creating a chilling effect against the profession of journalism in India,” said the foundation.
