DODA, MAY 11 — Mehraj Malik, Member of the Legislative Assembly from Doda and President of the Aam Aadmi Party in Jammu and Kashmir, has strongly criticized the government’s recent blocking of several independent news outlets and journalist accounts, calling it a “direct assault on press freedom.”
“Withholding X accounts of @KashmirLife, @FreePressK, @TheKashmiriyat & journalists like @AnuradhaBhasin_ & @MuzamilJaleel is a direct assault on press freedom. In times of tension, truth is vital,” Malik posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. He urged Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to intervene and defend democratic principles.
The lawmaker’s comments follow a wave of digital censorship that began after a militant attack on April 22 in Baisaran, Kashmir, which left 26 tourists dead. In the weeks since, India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) has ordered the takedown or restriction of over 8,000 X accounts, according to the platform’s Global Affairs division.
Among those blocked domestically are accounts belonging to Maktoob Media, Free Press Kashmir, The Kashmiriyat, and individual journalists including Anuradha Bhasin of Kashmir Times and Muzamil Jaleel of Indian Express. The BBC Urdu X account and influencer iarpitspeaks were also rendered inaccessible within India. Instagram’s @muslim account was similarly blocked following a legal request.
In a separate incident, the website of The Wire, an independent news outlet, was blocked nationwide on May 9. According to The Wire, internet service providers informed the outlet that the directive came from the government under the Information Technology Act, 2000, due to an article about Pakistan’s alleged downing of an Indian Rafale jet, which was based on a CNN report.
The Wire’s editors said they were not given prior notice or a chance to respond before the block was enforced. “The impugned story was published at 3:47 AM on May 8 and was based on information already widely available. I fail to see why the government treated our story as an emergency matter,” founding editor Siddharth Varadarajan wrote in a letter to the ministry. The article was later taken down, and The Wire’s website was unblocked, though users on various networks continued to report inaccessibility for several hours.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemned the blocks, calling them “an alarming attempt to stifle critical journalism.” “Facts must not be the casualty in any conflict,” said CPJ’s Asia program coordinator Beh Lih Yi.
The crackdown comes amid rising tensions with Pakistan, including cross-border fire in Kashmir and a surge in government action against content deemed sensitive. On April 29, the YouTube channel 4PM News Network was taken down over national security concerns but has since been restored. On May 7, journalist Hilal Mir was detained under preventive custody for allegedly spreading anti-national content online.
Meanwhile, live coverage of anti-terrorist operations has been banned, and criminal charges have been filed against several commentators and public figures, including folk singer Neha Singh Rathore and academic Madri Kakoti, for their remarks related to the Kashmir attack.
Despite growing domestic and international criticism, the Indian government has yet to publicly address the full scope of its recent media restrictions.
Anzer Ayoob is the Founder and Chief Editor to The Chenab Times