New Delhi: A new joint report by the World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) and the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) states that governments worldwide are increasingly using financial laws to target independent media, undermining their financial stability and damaging their reputation.
The recently published report highlights cases from eight countries where journalists and media outlets have encountered extensive financial accusations. The case studies cover authoritarian regimes such as Azerbaijan, Hong Kong, and El Salvador, as well as actions against NewsClick in India and Rappler in the Philippines.
“Financial crimes prove effective in silencing media and journalists as they do not require the need for a link to content produced and are not subject to the same international scrutiny as laws explicitly targeting media. Being aware of how such laws are being used – or misused – will hopefully better insulate us from their effects. Sharing the case studies featured in this report is an important step,” wrote executive director, press freedom, WAN-IFRA, Andrew Heslop.
Edward Pittman, one of the report’s authors, stated that their study revealed “misuse and abuse of financial crimes to target journalists and media is a growing phenomenon in all regions.” He added, “In a growing number of countries, constraints on funding media are so high that the business of running an independent media is effectively criminalised. This forces journalists and media outlets into exile.”
The report highlights that, because financial charges fall under criminal law, many prosecutions lead to prolonged pre-trial detention, prison terms, and significant fines.
Additionally, during criminal investigations and trials, journalists and media organisations may be denied access to bank accounts, with assets often frozen, severely impacting their finances. For instance, in the Philippines, Nobel laureate Maria Ressa and her news organisation Rappler were targeted with tax evasion charges, which led to significant financial losses.
Legal defence against such charges is notably expensive, requiring tax and criminal lawyers, accounting specialists, and other forms of expertise that are not readily available to most journalists and media outlets. “The narrative behind such charges intends to label journalists as criminals, erode public support, and attack the journalist’s or media outlet’s reputation,” it said.
The international report highlights the case of NewsClick whose offices and staff were raised in 2021 and 2023. While 380 electronic devices were confiscated from staff, the NewsClick founder and editor Prabir Purkayastha and head of human resources Amit Chakravarty were arrested in October 2023 as “part of an investigation into suspected foreign funding of the media outlet”.
Purkayastha was released following a Supreme Court order that his fundamental rights had been violated on procedural grounds relating to his arrest.
The report noted that the crackdown on the outlet followed its coverage of the farmers’ protests and the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“While other media in the country have been sold to government-aligned owners, NewsClick remains defiant. In targeting the outlet in this costly and complex way, the government has sought to make it financially unviable and to send a chilling effect among the independent journalists in the country,” it said.
The other cases were of Abzas Media in Azerbaijan, six staff journalists of which were charged with foreign currency smuggling, illegal foreign funding and money laundering in December 2023 and August 2024.
In Hong Kong, Jimmy Lai, founder of Apple Daily was jailed on fraud charges connected to lease violations and faced National Security Law accusations for pro-democracy efforts.
After reporting on negotiations between criminal gangs and the Guatemalan government, El Faro faced accusations of money laundering and tax evasion from President Nayib Bukele. With accounts frozen, the outlet moved operations to Costa Rica to evade financial obstruction and continued reporting amidst government hostility.
