With the onset of Modi rule, India’s traditional media has bowed down to the government one by one. Everyone addresses this media sitting in the lap of power as ‘Godi Media’. To satisfy the information hunger of the people, journalists loyal to their profession have made social media the main weapon for their thoughts and research. Today, social media has become extremely powerful and people also trust it. Godi Media has fallen to such an extent in the eyes of the people that people turn off their TVs as soon as the news starts.
For this reason, for a long time now, dictatorial rulers have been finding excuses to tighten the noose on various YouTube channels and digital outlets running on social media platforms. Now the Income Tax Department has cancelled the non-profit status of the famous digital media outlet ‘The Reporters Collective’.
This platform had done such investigative journalism from time to time, which made it a source of irritation for the ruling party, including reports on the handover of ‘Sainik Schools’ to the RSS, loot of election funds by the BJP through electoral bonds and dealings with BJP allies.
‘The Reporters Collective’ (TRC) said in a statement issued on Tuesday, “We started this platform with our limited resources. Since July 2021, we have been working as a registered non-profit trust with financial support from the public. Now the Income Tax Department has cancelled our non-profit status.”
The TRC further said, “Journalism, when done properly, is an essential public service for our democracy. Proper journalism has the status of public welfare. Investigative journalism, which holds powerful people accountable, truly serves ordinary citizens, especially the poor and marginalized. Revocation of our non-profit status will adversely affect our ability to do our work. We are seeking legal remedies to protect the idea of journalism in the public interest, to protect our right to fearless journalism and to protect our right to fearless journalism against the obstacles that come in the way of investigative journalism. We stand with all our colleagues who have shown extraordinary courage, skill and determination to do journalism.’’
The Income Tax Department has said in its order to the TRC that this social media institution does not serve a public purpose, hence it cannot be given the status of a non-profit organization. In fact, this is just the beginning and those digital media platforms that are being taken over, which are being run through trusts, are being taken over. Similar notices have also been issued to several other charitable trusts. These include the Bengaluru-based Kannada website ‘The File’, which received a notice last December. In that notice, ‘The File’ was said to be carrying out commercial activities. In response, the editor of ‘The File’ had stated on the basis of facts that their platform does not give any space to any commercial advertisement. In fact, the Income Tax Department has to obey the orders of the rulers. India’s position in the 2024 Press Freedom Index was at number 159, which puts a question mark on India’s democracy.
