What the Indian news website NewsClick said about the investigation of a news website and alleged financial funding from a millionaire: a McCarthyism tactic
NEW DELHI — Indian police raided the offices of a news website that’s under investigation for allegedly receiving funds from China, as well as the homes of several of its journalists, in what critics described as an attack on one of India’s few remaining independent news outlets.
The site and its journalists were accused of receiving funds from an American millionaire in August, weeks after a New York Times report that the website had received funds from an American millionaire. NewsClick denied the charges.
Delhi police did not immediately respond for a comment, but India’s junior minister for information and broadcasting, Anurag Thakur, told reporters that “if anyone has committed anything wrong, search agencies are free to carry out investigations against them.”
The country was ranked 161st by Reporters Without Borders for its press freedom this year, and they wrote that it has deteriorated from “problematic” to “very bad”.
Ties between India and China have been strained since 2020, when clashes between the two militaries in a disputed border area killed at least 20 Indian troops and four Chinese soldiers. New Delhi has banned a number of Chinese- owned apps, including TikTok, as well as launched tax probes into Chinese mobile phone companies.
The Modi administration has also introduced rules that require government approval for investments by companies from China and other countries that neighbor India.
Journalists Abhisar Sharma, Aritry Das, and Bhasha Singh posted about the raids on X, the site formerly known as Twitter, confirming that Delhi Police had seized their laptops and phones.
This is a completely McCarthyist tactic that involves building hysteria in various sections of the media and then proceeding with a ruthless suppression of dissent and dissidents. As the general elections in India near, it’s going to intensify.
Newsclick, Enforcement Directorate, and Internet Freedom Foundation: A Report on a 2017 Insight on Newsclick’s Investigation of Money Laundering
The Enforcement Directorate, which investigates money laundering, froze Newsclick’s assets in August. The directorate previously raided Newsclick’s premises and the homes of some of its senior staff in 2021.
Since Modi came to power in 2014, the Indian government has charged several journalists under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, which was previously only invoked while dealing with terrorist organizations. In the past, it has been claimed that the government planted evidence on electronic devices. Sixteen activists, scholars and journalists were arrested in connection with a riot in Pune, Maharashtra in 2018 under the same UAPA laws. However, forensic analysis later revealed that the evidence against them was planted on the devices of at least two of the arrested. The case is still going on. Some activists who are in jail have recently been granted bail. One died in prison, awaiting justice.
The Internet Freedom Foundation, an NGO, said in a statement on X that it is concerned with the seizure of digital devices, which “violate right to privacy and negatively impact press freedom in derogation of due process of law.”