India has fallen to 157/180 countries in the press freedom index. This means that they are conducting actions that have made it harder for the press to report on what is really going on in India. Specifically the article talks about how the Indian government has introduced new “weaponized” legislation that has made it dangerous for reporters to try and do their jobs due to the possible legal rebuttal of their work. These laws are known to be broad and give the government an array of powers that gives them a wide range of abilities to deter the work of the journalists. The article also talks about how this is becoming a common trend amoungst states. They even go so far as to say that the number of countries that are considered not free for the press has gone so low that it is the lowest that it has been since the index’s founding in 2002.
I find it crazy that even in countries that are supposed to be democratic and free (not India) there has been such a crackdown on the press. In our modern day world the government has been put in an interesting place in which the people do not have to demand to be seen. In actuality they are seen by millions in the web that the internet is. However something interesting that I do think about is where do we draw the line for press freedoms. For example when we think of India cracking down we think about the injustice of the action but when Taiwan does something very similar we say it is necessary for their state to survive.
India: For one I doubt that the central government cares about how people outside of India think about the levels of press freedoms in India, however I would be that they would care a little more about how the Indians feel about their press being restricted. In my opinion this reaction would be very different depending on where in India you are. In some places I think that due to the highly traditional culture, little would be done or said due to the high levels of submission to authorities. However in other more youngly populated, we could see protests come out in the name of press freedoms. I doubt anything would come with these unless an unexpected amount of protesters.
I can see concepts of watchdogs and popular sovereignty. Watch Dogs – The Index has made the world aware that India is no longer a place that is safe for the free press, so they are doing the very job that they were created for. Popular sovereignty – the only reason that the Indian government has the power to do these things is because the people lets them, the minute that a good portion of the people no longer favor the restrictions, the legislation will lose its power.