New Delhi: The Press Club of India has expressed deep concerns over the government taking down The Caravan’s story, titled Screams from the Army Post, citing Section 69A of the Information Technology Act.
The URL containing the story has been taken down because of an order issued by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.
“The actions of the MIB [Ministry of Information and Broadcasting] gravely infringes the freedom of press, which has seen a serious slide in the past few years. India’s Press Freedom Ranking of 161 out of 180 countries is a testimony of this fact and no amount of “rejection” by the
government can alter this truth,” read the statement issued on Wednesday, February 14.
“We request the MIB to withdraw its order directing the magazine to pull down the story. The Caravan reported on an important story and the people of the country have the right to know. We also support the statement of Hartosh Singh Bal, Executive Editor of the journal, who said: ‘This is a fundamental challenge to our right to report the truth, the citizens’ right to know the truth. It cannot and will not go uncontested.’ We urge all media organisations to take up this issue urgently,” it said.
Also read: Read: The Caravan’s Article on Army Torture the Union Government Wants Taken Down
The magazine was told that if it fails to take down the article from its website within 24 hours, the entire website would be taken down.
The story centred around the killing of three civilians allegedly by unidentified soldiers on December 22, 2023 which had been widely reported in the media. Locals have held that the men were killed in army custody, and videos of them being tortured had gone viral. The Army has simply said that the matter is under investigation.
