A fall-in-line order?

IN Media Watch Briefs | 03/10/2016

On Oct 2 the state government banned the Kashmir newspaper Kashmir Reader by invoking section 144 CrPC read with section 3 of the Newspapers incitement of Offences Act 1971 and section 10 of the  Press and Publication Act 1989. Why the ban? Says a reporter, "The government banned it because we reported what was obvious. Our coverage was extensive. We reported from South Kashmir, the epicentre of the ongoing protests. We didn't invent stories. Today's ban order is a warning to journalists and newspapers to fall in line."            

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The new term for self censorship is voluntary censorship, as proposed by companies like Netflix and Hotstar. ET reports that streaming video service Amazon Prime is opposing a move by its peers to adopt a voluntary censorship code in anticipation of the Indian government coming up with its own rules. Amazon is resisting because it fears that it may alienate paying subscribers.                   

Clearly, the run to the 2019 elections is on. A journalist received a call from someone saying they were from Aajtak channel and were conducting a survey, asking whom she was going to vote for in 2019. On being told that her vote was secret, the caller assumed she wasn't going to vote for 'Modiji'. The caller, a woman, also didn't identify herself. A month or two earlier the same journalist received a call, this time from a man, asking if she was going to vote for the BSP.                 

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