Journalists decry increasing censorship online

Working journalists’ representatives on Saturday (April 11, 2026) gathered to speak out against increasing censorship online, and the proposed changes to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, at the Press Club of India. “I fear this will be not just censorship, but selective censorship,” freelance journalist Jatin Gandhi said at the meeting.

The IT Rules’ proposed amendment, for which the government has now extended the last date to the end of April, will give the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting more authority over individual journalists unaffiliated to any organisation. That could hurt freelance journalists, said Ritika Jain, an independent reporter.