INCIDENT LOGSept 2017
Gauri Lankesh
Editor · Bengaluru
Shot dead outside her home
Beat: Investigative reporting & commentary
Had previously faced sedition charges for her work.
Investigation later linked suspects to extremist networks.
SEALED RECORD · OPENED 06 MAY 2026
In India, a journalist can be jailed for 180 days without trial.
PUBLICATION · 06 MAY 2026 · CLASSIFICATION: PUBLIC RECORD
PRESS IN
THE DARK
The documented collapse of press freedom in India, 2014–2026.
The numbers confirm what the cases prove.
Imagine you work an unarmed job where doing it well can get you killed. Where the tools of your trade — a notebook, a phone, a camera — can be seized.
Where a law meant to catch terrorists can be used to keep you in prison for two years without a trial. Where the court that is supposed to protect you looks the other way.
That is the reality facing hundreds of journalists in India today.
This is not a political opinion. It is a documented record built from the findings of Reporters Without Borders, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the Supreme Court of India itself.
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↳ This is a documented record. Not an opinion.
The rankings don't capture what the stories do.
STATISTICAL EVIDENCE · EVIDENCE LAYER 00
By the numbers — measured against 180 nations.
RSF · 2026
0/180
World Press Freedom Index ranking
6 spots lower than 2025 · 'Very serious'
RSF · 2026
0/180
Political indicator sub-score
Among the lowest globally
RSF · DECADE
−0 pts
Decline in press freedom score over 10 years
Sharpest among major democracies
REGIONAL CONTEXT · NEIGHBOURING NATIONS
Nepal
90
Maldives
104
Sri Lanka
139
Bangladesh
149
Pakistan
153
India
157
SOURCE: RSF 2026 · LOWER RANK = LESS PRESS FREEDOM
DIRECT QUOTATION · RSF 2026
"An unofficial state of emergency for Indian media."
RSF · WORLD PRESS FREEDOM INDEX 2026
Rankings describe a system. Laws explain how it operates.
LEGAL ARCHITECTURE · EVIDENCE LAYER 01
Laws built for terrorists. Used on journalists.
ARCHIVED MATERIALENACTED 1967 · AMENDED 2019
UAPA
Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act
The UAPA was originally designed to prosecute terrorism. What it also does is allow the state to detain a person for up to 180 days without trial, on evidence that need not be disclosed to the accused.
A 2019 amendment further allowed authorities to designate an individual a "terrorist" before any crime is proven in court.
0
journalists imprisoned since 2014
0%
increase vs. previous administration (8 → 36)
PARALLEL INSTRUMENTS · APPLIED AGAINST PRESS
Sedition (IPC 124A · Colonial)Criminal DefamationTelecommunications Act · 2023Digital Personal Data Protection ActNational Security ActIT Rules · proposed 3-hour takedown · 2026
These laws are not new. Their application is.
Behind every law, there is a person it was used against.
DETENTION & DEATH RECORD · EVIDENCE LAYER 02
First, those who were killed.
Numbers can feel abstract. These are not numbers — they are real stories about real people, working without institutional protection.
INCIDENT LOG2018
Sandeep Sharma
TV reporter · Madhya Pradesh
Run over by a truck
Beat: Sand mafia investigations
Had written to local police expressing fear for his life.
Family alleged a targeted murder.
INCIDENT LOG2022
Subhash Mahto
Local journalist · Jharkhand
Shot dead by assailants
Beat: Illegal sand mining
Pattern: most endangered are local journalists in smaller towns.
Worked without institutional protection or visibility.
INCIDENT LOG2017
Shantanu Bhowmick
Reporter · Tripura
Lynched on camera by a mob
Beat: Political rally coverage
The footage of the killing still exists today.
Died doing his job.
These were the journalists who were killed. Then there are those who were imprisoned.
Some waited years. One waited 846 days.
DETENTION RECORD · KAPPAN, S.EVIDENCE LAYER 03 · 2020–2023
Day 1
01
days in custody
Arrest. UAPA invoked. Travelling to cover Hathras.
SILENCE · INTERVAL 02
He was one of dozens.
Siddique Kappan · Journalist · Kerala · Released without conviction.
Others are still waiting.
DETENTION RECORD · ONGOING & CONCLUDED
Imprisoned. Released. Re-arrested.
DETENTION RECORD2018 — present
India's longest-imprisoned journalist
Aasif Sultan
Reporter, Kashmir Narrator
Detained · UAPA
DETENTION RECORD2023
Prabir Purkayastha
Editor, NewsClick
Arrested · UAPA
DETENTION RECORD2022
Mohammed Zubair
Co-founder, Alt News
Arrested · 2018 tweet
DETENTION RECORD2022 — present
Rupesh Kumar Singh
Freelance journalist · Jharkhand
Detained · UAPA
Imprisonment was not the only method.
SURVEILLANCE RECORD · EVIDENCE LAYER 04
Spied on with military-grade software.
In 2021, hundreds of Indian phones appeared on a leaked surveillance list.
Journalists were included.
So were opposition leaders.
And a former Election Commissioner.
SURVEILLANCE SCHEMATIC
Pegasus · access surface
LAST ACCESSED
UNKNOWN
MESSAGES
CAMERA
LOCATION
MICROPHONE
CONFIRMED FINDING
Siddharth Varadarajan
Founding editor · The Wire
Pegasus active · multiple periods
CONFIRMED FINDING
Anand Mangnale
South Asia Editor · OCCRP
Last confirmed: October 2023
Source: Amnesty International Security Lab · Forensic Methodology
SUPREME COURT TECHNICAL COMMITTEE · 2021–2022
The committee's findings were never made public.
↳ press and hold to reveal
SILENCE · INTERVAL 03
Someone was watching.
Sometimes the surveillance was more direct.
RAID & SHUTDOWN RECORD · EVIDENCE LAYER 05
Newsrooms raided. Networks turned off.
Raids
DIVISION · NETWORK SHUTDOWNS
Internet shutdowns
REGIONAL SHUTDOWN MAP · 2014–2026SOURCE: SFLC.IN · ACCESS NOW
- Jammu & Kashmir
Over 1 year blackout (2019–2020)
- Manipur
200-day shutdown during ethnic violence
- Rajasthan
Recurring exam-day shutdowns
- Haryana
Protest-period shutdowns
- West Bengal
Localised district shutdowns
106
shutdowns recorded in a single year
552
cumulative days offline
4
consecutive years — world record
And behind the news itself — a question of who controls it.
STRUCTURAL EVIDENCE · OWNERSHIP
Editorial pressure, without a single legal action.
RSF estimates that ~70% of major Indian media outlets are owned by, or linked to, large conglomerates whose business interests intersect with government policy.
SOURCE: RSF · INDIA COUNTRY PROFILE
~70%
Conglomerate-linked outlets
~30%
Independent / other
RSF REPORT · 2026
DIRECT QUOTATION
"The Prime Minister does not hold open press conferences."
— RSF, 2026. Interviews granted primarily to outlets and journalists considered sympathetic to the administration.
And India's own democracy monitors have noted the same pattern.
CROSS-INSTITUTIONAL VERIFICATION
Two independent democracy monitors. One conclusion.
FREEDOM HOUSE · 2021VERIFIED
Free → Partly Free
In 2021, US-based democracy monitor Freedom House downgraded India's status. The classification has not been restored in subsequent annual reports.
V-DEM · 2024VERIFIED
Electoral Autocracy
Sweden's V-Dem Institute classified India as an "electoral autocracy" in 2021, and listed it among significant autocratisers of the last decade in its 2024 report.
Both organisations apply standardised, cross-country methodologies consistently across governments of all political orientations.
The journalists in this account did not set out to be symbols.
AFTERMATH
90+ devices seized from journalists.
Most owners were never charged.
You may not follow political news. You may not particularly care about press freedom as an abstract value.
But a press that cannot report freely is a press that cannot tell you when official death tolls are inaccurate, when environmental regulations are being ignored, when public funds are being misused, or when institutions are not functioning as they should.
It is the reader's decision whether Kappan's 846 days without conviction, the 90+ devices seized from journalists never charged, the phones infected with spyware, are isolated events. If you find that they form a documented pattern — international institutions, India's own Supreme Court, and journalists across the political spectrum have already flagged it as serious.
DIRECT TESTIMONY
PARANJOY GUHA THAKURTA · NEWSCLICK RAID · DEVICES NEVER RETURNED
"Disgraceful, shameful, but not surprising. Legislation has been systematically weaponised to stifle dissenting voices."
The journalists in this account did not set out to be symbols of anything. They set out to do their jobs and strengthen the fourth pillar of democracy.
"What happened to them when they did is a matter of public record, and public concern."
Verified incidents documented in this archive:
0
36 imprisonments · 4 deaths in archive · 4 raid clusters · 106 shutdowns/year ·
552 cumulative days offline · 2 confirmed Pegasus infections · 90+ devices seized ·
300+ phones on surveillance list · 35-point press freedom decline.
FULL SOURCE ARCHIVE · 12 ENTRIES
Evidence Database
RSF2026
India — World Press Freedom Index country profile
Ranked 157/180. 'Very serious' situation. 35-point decline over decade.
Open source ↗
RSF2026
World Press Freedom Index
Methodology and global rankings.
Open source ↗
CPJOngoing
India country page
Ongoing case tracking, attacks on press, imprisonment data.
Open source ↗
CPJMay 2024
CPJ urges India to ensure freedom for 3 journalists granted bail
Security-case bail proceedings and ongoing detentions.
Open source ↗
CPJApril 2024
Indian journalists 2024: election concerns, violence, trolling, device hacking
Pre-election survey of journalist working conditions.
Open source ↗
AMNESTYJuly 2021
The Pegasus Project
Global investigation into NSO Group's Pegasus spyware.
Open source ↗
AMNESTY2021
Security Lab — Pegasus case study
Forensic methodology for verifying Pegasus infections.
Open source ↗
AMNESTYDecember 2023
India: Damning forensic investigation reveals repeated use of Pegasus
Confirmed Pegasus infections on Siddharth Varadarajan and Anand Mangnale.
Open source ↗
AMNESTYOctober 2023
Apple notifications highlight unabated threat of unlawful targeted surveillance
Apple threat notifications received by journalists and opposition figures.
Open source ↗
HRWOngoing
Human Rights Watch — India
Civil and political rights monitoring including press freedom.
Open source ↗
FREEDOM HOUSE2024
Freedom in the World — India
India classified 'Partly Free' since 2021 downgrade.
Open source ↗
V-DEM2024
V-Dem Democracy Reports
India listed among significant autocratisers; 'electoral autocracy' classification.
Open source ↗
↳ Where an archived URL is unavailable, only the live source is shown. Sources not directly cited in the article are not included.
END OF FILE · PRESS-IN-THE-DARK · AAWAAJ MOVEMENT · 2026