-TheWire.in "Such mass targeting of Muslim women in public spaces, whether online or offline, that treats them as objects in the political discourse of Hindutva is simply unacceptable." New Delhi: A group of more than 800 women’s rights organisations and concerned individuals have issued a statement condemning the recent online targeting and harassment of Muslim women on GitHub, through an app called ‘Sulli Deals’ that sought to ‘auction’ these women. Photos of over...

-The Hindu The national bar against hate crime has been lowered, but resolute corrective action is possible Once again, the first weeks of the Narendra Modi administration have been marked by hate crimes — two Muslim men beaten by mobs in Jharkhand and Mumbai, demanding they shout ‘Jai Shri Ram’, one so mercilessly that he died. Another man, a tribal, lynched in Tripura on suspicion of being a cattle thief. Most recently,...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Concerned over Hate Campaigns and defamatory attacks in social media that have come to dominate political discourse during elections, eight former chief election commissioners (CECs) on Monday suggested that the Election Commission tackle them at source by persuading sites such as Twitter and Facebook to block them “in public interest”. Alternatively, they suggested, the poll panel could engage with the parties to convince them to practise...

-The Indian Express RSF mentions that government was using prosecutions to “gag journalists who are overly critical” of it, invoking, among other sections, sedition charges, which are punishable by a life-term in jail. New Delhi: On the account of “deadly threat” from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “nationalism”, India has slipped down two ranks compared to last year in the Reporter’s Without Border’s (Reporters Sans Frontières, RSF) World Press Freedom Index 2018....

  There is some bad news for the world’s largest democracy. Thanks to the vitiated atmosphere induced by troll attacks on scribes on social media, among other things, the country's World Press Freedom Index (WPFI) ranking has fallen two places to 138th position.   Among 180 countries, India ranked 136th last year with a score of 42.94. However, in 2018 it attained 138th position with a score of 43.24 according to the...