Case against Hasan Suroor dropped

IN Media Watch Briefs | 08/06/2016

Hindustan Times reports that Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) on Tuesday dropped its case against Indian-origin journalist Hasan Suroor on the ground that it had “no evidence” to support the allegation of “sexual grooming” made against him by a vigilante group last November. Suroor said he was considering suing the vigilante group called Unknown TV. The report says that the judge ruled he had decided to return an “unequivocal” verdict of “not guilty” and criticised the prosecution’s handling of the case. He said he was “extremely concerned” that such serious allegations were sought to be pursued on the basis of a “telephone call” from an “unregulated” vigilante group.

 

Subscribe To The Newsletter
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.                 

View More