The blocking of Tamil magazine Vikatan’s website is a “brazen instance of overreach” that “does no good to India’s democratic traditions”, the Editors Guild said in a statement yesterday.
EGI Statement on Blocking of https://t.co/FOvrW0PI91 pic.twitter.com/8SHH0Gnl6g
— Editors Guild of India (@IndEditorsGuild) February 18, 2025
The media house last week alleged its website was “blocked by the central government” after it published a cartoon on Narendra Modi and Donald Trump in the context of Indians being handcuffed while being deported from the United States.
Shortly before, the state BJP had filed complaints against Vikatan with the Press Council of India and the union minister of state in the I&B ministry. State BJP president K Annamalai accused the news portal of “publishing offensive and baseless content” about Modi. He also described Vikatan as a “mouthpiece of the DMK”.
In a statement, Vikatan said: “For nearly a century, Vikatan has stood firmly in support of freedom of expression. We have always operated with the principle of upholding free speech and will continue to do so. We are still trying to ascertain the reasons behind the blocking of our website, and are in the process of taking up this matter with the ministry.”
The Editors Guild said cartoons “have always been a legitimate means of journalistic endeavour”.
“What is more deplorable is the abrupt manner in which access to the entire web portal was blocked, purportedly after the state head of a political party complained to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) against the said cartoon. No prior notices were issued and no opportunity was given to Ananda Vikatan – the group behind the web portal – for a fair hearing,” the statement said.
The guild also said it was “appalled to hear” that after the website was blocked, Vikatan received a notice summoning it for a hearing with an inter-departmental committee under the IT Rules.
“The entire episode smacks of high-handedness and militates against the cherished ideals of a free press,” it said. “...The Guild is also saddened to learn that the cartoonist behind the work has been subjected to harsh trolling on social media, as well as death threats.”
It urged the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to “roll back the blocking order and ensure that it is never guided by any arbitrariness when dealing with free speech and expression”.
Newslaundry had interviewed cartoonists Manjul and Rachita Taneja on the changing political atmosphere in India and how cartoons are censored by the government. Watch the discussion here.
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