India Chops Away At Internet Freedom

Modi’s campaign against fake news and security threats is cutting off political opposition online

- Mark Bergen, with Sankalp Phartiyal

Sandeep Ravindranath, an Indian filmmaker, posted his latest work to YouTube in May. The video, a nine-minute fictional drama with no dialogue titled Anthem for Kashmir, depicts a young political activist on the lam from authorities. Indian viewers likely picked up on its numerous references to alleged extrajudicial murders in the heavily militarized province, which India and Pakistan have contested for decades.

In late June, YouTube sent Ravindranath a note saying a government entity had complained about the film. The details of the government notice were confidential, it said, but the company was taking Anthem for Kashmir offline in the country. The filmmaker wasn’t surprised. “People have been thrown into prison for just Facebook posts,” he says. “It’s been gradual descent into—for lack of a better word, people have been calling it fascism.”

Kashmir has long been a third rail in Indian politics, but other issues have also become electrified recently. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has grown more aggressive about rooting out cybercrimes and what it calls “fake news” on social media. Under rules from 2021, executives at companies that don’t comply with content removal requests could face jail time. Twice this year, prominent Indian journalists have been arrested for their activities online. The government has also moved to make Meta Platforms Inc.’s WhatsApp hand over information about certain encrypted chats, citing public safety concerns.