Dear Reader,
Calling out misinformation and hate speech can be a perilous profession in India, as Mohammed Zubair, and AltNews, the fact-checking site he co-founded, have been finding out. Since creating the site half a decade ago, trolling, abuse, legal notices and criminal cases have been their return. So much so that they need a battery of lawyers to keep ahead of their harassers.
The latest strike by the police has been the case against Zubair for “hate-mongering”, “fifth in the last 21 months, filed in five cities of three states”, largely seen as payback for flagging the BJP national spokesperson’s aspersions against the Prophet of Islam in a TV debate last week. Article 14 chronicles the trials and travails of AltNews and its founders.
The ruling party spokesperson’s statements on the Prophet have also riled Islamic nations who have registered their angst and anguish. This reaction, The Citizen says, is a symptom of the fall in India’s esteem as a plural society in these countries, and will have profound geostrategic implications with the potential to erode India’s influence in the extended neighbourhood.
However, noted political analyst Yogendra Yadav argues in ThePrint that while the hostile reaction from the Muslim nations is understandable and may even be a check on the sectarian excesses of the ruling party, this respite may be illusory. The real battle is to be fought by Indian citizens against the rampant and increasing hate speech and violence in society – a battle that is for Indians alone to fight.
And, the RBI’s diktat that online merchants and payment aggregators will not be allowed to store credit and debit card details of customers starting July 1, 2022, is seen to be severely disruptive. MediaNama explains the new rules, the technology challenges and analyses the antidotes.
For more such stories from the grantees this week, please read on.
Warmly,
Sunil Rajshekhar
IPSMF
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