Modi listed in RSF’s ‘Predators of Press Freedom
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) recently released a list of 37 heads of state who have the lowest press freedom under their jurisdiction, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Modi’s “close ties with billionaire businessmen who own vast media empires” have contributed to the dissemination of his nationalist-populist ideology through continual coverage of his “extremely divisive and derogatory” speeches, according to RSF’s entry.
The right to inform and be informed is regarded as a basic human right, and RSF is the world’s largest non-profit organization that works towards media freedom. In their 2021 World Press Freedom Index, India ranks at 142nd out of 180 countries.
Along with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan, Myanmar’s military head Min Aung Hlaing, and North Korea’s S Leader Kim Jong-un, Modi has been mentioned among the “Predators of Press Freedom.” They have been listed alongside 33 other heads of state who “trample on press freedom by creating a censorship apparatus, jailing journalists arbitrarily, or inciting violence against journalists when they don’t have blood on their hands because they have directly or indirectly pushed for the murder of journalists,” according to RSF.
This list was last updated in 2016, with 17 new entries. There are world leaders on the list that have been on it since it was first published in 2001. Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, Iran’s Ali Khamenei, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, and Belarus’ Alexander Lukashenko were amongst them. Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh and Carrie Lam of Hong Kong are the only two women on the list.
Modi has been Prime Minister of India since 2014, and according to the entry, he has been “a predator since coming to power.” RSF also mentions journalists who have been targeted by Modi’s hate, such as Gauri Lankesh, a journalist who was shot dead outside her home in 2017 for opposing Hindutva. They also cite Rana Ayyub and Barkha Dutt, who was threatened with gang rape and had their personal information leaked online to aid attacks.
