Following the withholding of Maktoob Media’s X handle in India, journalists across the country strongly condemned the act, calling it a clear violation of press freedom.
The Indian government’s order on Thursday to block over 8,000 accounts on X (formerly Twitter) included the withholding of accounts for independent outlets like Maktoob Media, The Kashmiriyat, and Free Press Kashmir in India.
The move has been widely condemned as an “assault on press freedom” and a tactic to silence critical voices, while mainstream media, accused of indulging in “warmongering jingoism” and spreading fake news, continues to operate without consequence.
Journalist Anusha Ravi Sood, took to X, stating, “TV channels that are peddling misinformation and whipping up hysteria without common sense are not even questioned,” while “the account of a media house like @MaktoobMedia, which was fact-checking misinformation from mainstream media just today, is withheld on @X.”
Prominent journalist Rana Ayyub, wrote, “Freedom of the press, anyone?” and expressed “solidarity with Maktoob Media.”
Calling the move “shambolic, frankly,” journalist Gaurav Nandan Tripathi noted that it is “helping no one, and a step back in the narrative war too.”
Journalist Ayush Tiwari noted that while the government has legal tools to check television media under the Cable TV Networks Act 1995, it “has not exercised any of it to restrain channels spiraling into hysteria”, while blocking “4PM, Maktoob and Kashmiriyat. tells you a lot.”
Journalist Aditya Menon pointed to a clear double standard, calling it “hypocrisy” that while Maktoob is blocked, “channels spreading lies face no action.”
This story was originally published in maktoobmedia.com. Read the full story here.
