BANGKOK, Thailand (27 May 2025) – The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) is gravely concerned over the Indian Government’s continuing attempts to censor independent media and stifle freedom of expression under the guise of national security.
FORUM-ASIA calls on the Government of India to uphold its constitutional and international legal obligations by ceasing the misuse of criminal law to target peaceful dissent.
“The protection of dissent, academic freedom, and a free press is not optional. It is foundational to the rule of law and a functioning democracy. India must ensure that its legal and administrative actions reinforce, rather than erode, the rights and freedoms of its people,” said Mary Aileen Diez-Bacalso, Executive Director of FORUM-ASIA.
The most recent wave of repression has followed Operation Sindoor—reportedly a “precision counter-terrorism strike” on alleged insurgent camps across the Line of Control in Pakistan-administered Kashmir—and the subsequent military escalations with Pakistan.
However, this is a part of a broader, entrenched pattern in which militarized rhetoric and national security concerns are used to justify increasingly aggressive curbs on civic freedoms.
“The arrest of an academic, alongside sweeping censorship on independent media, reveals a legal system weaponized to punish dissent. Freedom of expression is not a threat to national security; it is the bedrock of any functioning democracy,” Bacalso added.
Media censorship
In May 2025, over 8,000 social media accounts were blocked in India for allegedly disseminating “anti-India” misinformation related to Operation Sindoor.
These included the accounts of foreign media organizations such as BBC Urdu, China’s Xinhua News Agency, and Turkey’s TRT World.
Several Indian media outlets and Kashmir-based portals were also reportedly blocked online without official notice or due process. Among the affected are the Wire, Outlook India, Maktoob Media, the Kashmiriyat, Free Press Kashmir, and Kashmir Life.
These takedowns were executed under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act 2000, without public notification or access to judicial review, contravening international norms of due process, transparency, and proportionality in digital content regulation.
It also infringes on the right to seek, receive, and impart information, a core element of freedom of expression under both Article 19 of the Constitution of India and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which India is a State Party.
Such censorship entrenches structural inequalities in access to information and shrinks civic space, both online and offline, particularly for historically marginalized communities.
Moreover, the absence of clear platform accountability frameworks leaves users without a remedy. While platforms often comply with government takedown requests under pressure, opaque moderation practices and the lack of meaningful user notification violate the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, which emphasize transparency, accountability, and remedy in all business operations, including digital platforms.
Silencing dissent
On 18 May 2025, Professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad of Ashoka University was arrested in Haryana following two First Information Reports lodged in connection with his social media posts concerning Operation Sindoor.
In his social media posts, Mahmudabad condemned the glorification of war, emphasized the need for urgent de-escalation, and questioned the contradiction of India’s pluralist image and ongoing human rights violations. He also critiqued the online vitriol directed at India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, who became the subject of a coordinated abuse and doxxing after announcing a ceasefire. The backlash–primarily driven by right-wing accounts–framed the ceasefire as a “soft response” to Pakistan.
“The backlash against Vikram Misri exemplifies the same hyper-nationalist fervour that Mahmudabad was critiquing. His call for de-escalation, grounded in constitutional principles, was met with criminal prosecution. The targeting of a university professor for measured political commentary signals a rapidly closing civic space,” added Bacalso.
Mahmudabad was charged under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (India’s new criminal code), including Section 152, which penalizes acts “endangering the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India.” The newly introduced provision closely mirrors the repealed sedition law under Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code, raising concerns over the reintroduction of repressive legal tools under a new framework.
On 21 May, the Supreme Court granted Mahmudabad interim bail but imposed speech restrictions, barring him from commenting publicly on the case. It also ordered the constitution of a special investigation team to interpret the “complexity” of the language in his posts. This is alarming as it risks legitimizing over-interpretation of political expression and critical thought as criminal intent, and exerts a chilling effect on academic freedom and public discourse.
Mahmudabad’s case reflects a growing pattern of using criminal law to police opinion and silence dissent. While Article 19(1)(a) of the Indian Constitution guarantees freedom of expression and Article 19(2) outlines limited grounds for restriction, the use of broad and subjective charges such as “promoting enmity” or “disturbing public order” often fails to meet the test of necessity and proportionality under Indian and international human rights law.
Call to action
FORUM-ASIA urges Indian authorities to immediately lift prior restraint orders that suppress academic and journalistic freedom.
We call for the reversal of arbitrary media censorship and implementation of transparent and accountable procedures for content takedowns.
India’s domestic and international legal obligations–under its Constitution, jurisprudential commitments affirmed by the Supreme Court of India, and the ICCPR–require that any restrictions on expression be lawful, necessary, and proportionate.
Continued abuse of these principles undermines democratic legitimacy, due process, and public trust.
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The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) is a network of 89 member organisations across 23 countries, mainly in Asia. Founded in 1991, FORUM-ASIA works to strengthen movements for human rights and sustainable development through research, advocacy, capacity development and solidarity actions in Asia and beyond. It has consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council, and consultative relationship with the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights. The FORUM-ASIA Secretariat is based in Bangkok, with offices in Jakarta, Geneva and Kathmandu. www.forum-asia.org
For media inquiries, please contact:
- Communications and Media Programme, FORUM-ASIA, communication@forum-asia.org
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