Country
India
Government actions against journalists in India
RSF 2026 rank: 157th of 180. World Press Freedom Index of Reporters Without Borders (RSF); rank 1 is the freest.
The number of entries reflects the depth of this record, not the severity of a country's conduct.
India is in Southern Asia, Asia. The record holds 7 incidents in which the government of India, or an official, court or legislature there, limited journalists' ability to report.
Tactics used
- Prior restraint: 3 incidents · ladder
- Shutdowns and blocking: 2 incidents · ladder
- Detention and violence: 1 incident · ladder
- Official labels: 1 incident · ladder
- Expulsion and visa denial: 1 incident · ladder
- Insult and defamation laws: 1 incident · ladder
- Licensing and closure of outlets: 1 incident · ladder
- Surveillance and subpoenas: 1 incident · ladder
Heads of government at the time
Incidents by year
2026
| Date | Incident | Tactic | Stage | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 February 2026 | India: one-year prison sentence for the journalist Ravi Nair in a criminal defamation case, February 2026 | Insult and defamation laws | Punish | Narendra Modi | Unknown (10 February 2026) |
2024
| Date | Incident | Tactic | Stage | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 2024 | Bombay High Court strikes down India's government 'fact check unit' rule | Official labels | Pressure | Narendra Modi | Reversed (20 September 2024) |
2023
| Date | Incident | Tactic | Stage | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 August 2023 | India: Gaon Savera's Facebook and X accounts blocked | Shutdowns and blocking | Silence | Narendra Modi | Unknown |
| 14 February 2023 | Indian tax authorities search BBC offices weeks after Modi documentary ban | Surveillance and subpoenas | Pressure | Narendra Modi | Unknown |
2019
| Date | Incident | Tactic | Stage | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 November 2019 | India: journalist Aatish Taseer's overseas citizenship revoked | Expulsion and visa denial | Punish | Narendra Modi | Sustained (7 November 2019) |
| 5 August 2019 | India imposes a communications blackout in Jammu and Kashmir after revoking the region's special status | Shutdowns and blocking | Silence | Narendra Modi | Ongoing (5 August 2020) |
1975
| Date | Incident | Tactic | Stage | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 June 1975 | India imposes pre-press controls on every newspaper during the 1975 Emergency | Prior restraint | Silence | Indira Gandhi | Reversed (21 March 1977) |
Ladders: where each tactic has led · Timeline for India · Asia