The Pattern of the Government's Press Censorship

As India marks the 75th anniversary of its Constitution — a document that enshrines the fundamental rights of its people — the Modi government has committed an act that runs counter to everything that charter stands for. The arbitrary blocking of access to The Wire, a respected and independent news portal, is not just an attack on one media outlet. It is an assault on the Constitution itself, particularly its guarantee of free speech and press freedom.

There was no notice. No explanation. No opportunity for The Wire's editors or readers to be heard. The action appears to have been taken in secret, without due process or any publicly stated legal basis. This is a blatant violation of the principles of natural justice — principles that are not only central to our legal system but to the democratic ethos of the Republic of India.

Disturbingly, this move brings to mind the authoritarian censorship of colonial India — and surpasses it in some ways. In 1941, during World War II, the British colonial administration imposed strict censorship to suppress dissent. Even Mahatma Gandhi was prevented from writing about non-violence as war operations expanded across continents. That censorship was condemned then as unjust and un-Indian.

Now, in 2025, India is a sovereign democracy — at least in name. There is no emergency. There is no press censorship sanctioned by law or constitution. Yet, the government has blocked an entire news portal – and that without providing any reasons in public. If this isn’t censorship, what is?

Gandhi responded to British press censorship by launching his Individual Satyagraha — the only such campaign in defence of press freedom. He called freedom of the pen and speech "the foundation of Swaraj." Any attack on that foundation, he warned, must be resisted with all the strength at our disposal. That warning is more relevant now than ever.

The blocking of The Wire follows a pattern: the coercive action against Newsclick.in, the targeting of independent YouTube journalists, the growing intimidation of dissenting voices. These actions are not isolated; they are systematic. They form part of a broader attempt to silence criticism and consolidate control over information — the lifeblood of any functioning democracy.

What’s more, by preventing citizens from accessing The Wire, the government is infringing upon their right to information — a right the Supreme Court has repeatedly affirmed as integral to the right to freedom of expression. A democracy cannot thrive when its people are kept in the dark.

This is not just about The Wire. It is about the future of free speech in India. It is about whether our 75-year-old Constitution still holds meaning in the face of creeping authoritarianism.

As citizens, journalists, and defenders of democracy, we must rise to this challenge. The press is not the enemy of the state — it is the mirror in which the state must see itself. Break that mirror, and you break the very idea of India.

Such perverse decisions to muzzle critical voices, represented by The Wire, are indicative of the massive backsliding of democracy in India and the downgrading of its status in the global freedom of press index. Such attempts need to be fought tooth and nail so that the press freedom guaranteed by the Constitution is upheld in full glory.

S N Sahu served as Officer on Special Duty to President of India K.R. Narayanan.

This piece was first published on The India Cable – a premium newsletter from The Wire & Galileo Ideas – and has been updated and republished here. To subscribe to The India Cable, click here.

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