The Government of India published the new ‘Central Media Accreditation Guidelines 2022’ on Monday. The guidelines came into effect on February 1 and will determine the accreditation of all journalists.
Under these new guidelines, a journalist’s accreditation will be withdrawn or suspended if they act in a manner detrimental to the security, sovereignty and integrity of the country, or to India’s friendly relations with foreign states. Further, if the journalist’s actions are detrimental to “public order, decency or morality” or they are involved in “contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an offence,” they may lose their accreditation.
A committee will be constituted by the Union Government, called the Central Media Accreditation Committee (CMAC), chaired by the Principal DG, PIB and comprising of up to 25 members nominated by the government, to discharge the functions laid down under the new guidelines. Once the CMAC is constituted, it will function for two years from the date of first meeting. It is set to conduct meetings once in a quarter or more frequently, if necessary, and decisions will be taken on a majority basis.
With regard to new media organisations, the general terms of accreditation will apply to digital news publications as defined by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, under Rule 18 of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code), Rules, 2021. Accreditation will be given to websites that have operated actively for at least one year, provided the editor of the news portal is an Indian citizen. The website should have a registered office in India and the correspondents should be based in Delhi or the National Capital Region, in order to get accredited.
However, news aggregators will not be eligible. Organisations owned and run by cable operators providing cable television services through Cable Television Network will also not be eligible for accreditation.
According to the new Guidelines, an accredited media person is prohibited from using the words “Accredited to the Government of India” on public forums, social media profile, visiting cards, letter heads, or on any other form of published work.
Twitterannounced on Friday, that it has expanded the test of its new downvote feature worldwide. While it is not yet available to all, several users have expressed concerns about the effectiveness of the measure.
The downvote button is aimed at taking action against replies that are deemed irrelevant to Twitter posts. While downvoting replies were first initiated in 2021, it is now being shown to a global audience.
“We learned a lot about the types of replies you don’t find relevant and we’re expanding this test –– more of you on web and soon iOS and Android will have the option to use reply downvoting. Downvotes aren’t public, but they’ll help inform us of the content people want to see,” read the tweet from Twitter support.
The downvote button is supposed to appear right next to Twitter’s heart-shaped ‘like’ button. It appears only in case of replies, and not original tweets.
Photo Caption: The downvote button appears right next to the like button; Credit: Twitter
The idea, according to the social media giant, is to understand the types of replies that users find relevant in a conversation, which would enable the platform to prioritise such replies over others. However, the number of downvotes are kept private from the owner of the post, the user whose reply has been downvoted, as well as the general public.
Users Debate Downvote Feature
After Twitter’s announcement of the global test run, multiple users took to the platform to express confusion, while some questioned the importance of the new feature and others asked why it was not applied to all tweets.
Photo Credit: Silverscreen India
Users further noted that the position of the downvote button next to the like button posed a problem as it could lead to accidental downvoting.
Others remained unconvinced that the downvote feature would be of help and worried that it might instead be used to silence marginalised communities.
Similarities to Reddit and YouTube
Twitter is not the first social media platform to implement such a feature. Different forms of it exist on different platforms.
Some users pointed out the feature’s similarity to Reddit’s concept of upvote and downvote. However, while Reddit’s implementation is used to decide the popularity of a post, Twitter’s downvote option will only help highlight relevant replies, without impacting the posts themselves in any manner.
Recently, Google-owned YouTube announced a similar feature. It made the number of dislikes on a video private. While the dislike button remains, and a viewer can use it to tailor their own recommendations, only the creator of the video will have access to the dislike count. This was aimed at reducing dislike attacks, wherein creators (especially smaller ones) have experienced targeted attacks through unusually high numbers of dislikes on their content.
It remains to be seen if the downvote feature is made permanent on Twitter.
This was not the only new feature introduced by the microblogging platform this week. Twitter also rolled out test runs for a message icon on tweets that will enable users to reply directly to a tweet’s author from their timeline. It is currently available to select iOS users.
On Thursday, Twitter also announced that all web and Android users globally will be able to add warnings to photos and videos with sensitive content.
Asian American actor Awkwafina addressed the backlash that she has been facing from fans for appropriating black culture in her films.
Issuing a statement on Twitter, on Saturday, the Shang-Chi actor denied her use of African American Vernacular English (AAVE) and a ‘blaccent’ in her films.
Talking about the history of African American culture, she wrote, “There is a socio-political context to everything, especially the historical context of the African American community in this country. It is a group that is disproportionately affected by institutionalised policies and law enforcement policies — all while having historically and routinely seen their culture stolen, exploited, and appropriated by the *dominant* culture for monetary gain without any acknowledgment nor respect for where those roots come from, the pioneers of its beginnings and the artists that perfected and mastered the craft.”
Noting that it is still a relevant problem, she continued, “In life, linguistic acculturation, immigrant acculturation, and the inevitable passage of globalised internet slang all play a factor in the fine line between offence and pop culture.”
She added that as a “non-Black POC” she would strive to be more aware of the history and context of AAVE and “what is deemed appropriate or backwards towards the progress of any and every marginalised group.” The actor-rapper emphasised, “To mock, belittle, or be unkind in any way possible at the expense of others is: Simply. Not. My. Nature. It never has, and it never was.”
While she did not outrightly deny or accept her usage of AAVE or ‘blaccent’, the actor mentioned that as an Asian American, she is part of a group that is trying to figure out where they belong and what is right.
Awkwafina’s statement comes, after years of being criticised for her usage of AAVE in films like Crazy Rich Asians and Ocean’s 8. Earlier in January, the actor was slammed for being nominated for the 2022 NAACP Image Award for her work in the film Raya and the Last Dragon. Many took offence to the fact that she was nominated for an award despite her history of cultural appropriation.
Apart from issuing the statement, Awkwafina also announced that she is leaving Twitter until 2024. She attributed her exit to her mental health and said that she is available “on all other socials that don’t tell you to kill yourself.”
The Kerala High Court, on Wednesday, asked the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to produce the files that recommended the cancellation of the Malayalam news channel MediaOne for ‘national security reasons’.
The order came during the hearing of the petition challenging channel’s license cancellation.
The court also deferred the Union Government’s order barring telecast of the channel until the next hearing on Monday.
On January 31, MediaOne went off air after its license renewal was denied by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting citing national security reasons.
“MediaOne channel telecast has once again been disallowed by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, citing security reasons. The Government has not been forthcoming with the details. MediaOne is taking urgent legal steps for the restoration of the channel, and hope to get back to the viewers as soon as we can. For the time being, we are suspending our telecast, confident that justice will prevail,” wrote the channel.
The channel had previously been banned for 48 hours in 2020 for allegedly violating the provisions of the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act 1998 during its reportage of the Delhi riots that year.
Shortly after the channel’s telecast was suspended on Monday, its operator Madhyamam Broadcasting Limited filed a writ petition before the High Court seeking to set aside the order issued by the I&B Ministry. The petition stated that the channel was not involved in any sort of anti-national activity.
It is notable that, according to The News Minute, many of the investors in the company are members of the Kerala chapter of Jamaat-e-Islami.
During the hearing of the petition on Monday, the channel’s counsel had said that a show cause notice was issued to MediaOne on January 5 asking why the Centre should not revoke its license in consideration of national security and public order. While the company had responded seeking an opportunity for hearing, the Ministry had ignored this and revoked its permission with immediate effect, he added.
The channel’s counsel further mentioned that such a notice can only be served by the Ministry of Home Affairs and not the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
During Friday’s hearing, Justice N Nagaresh pointed out that there is no point in serving a show cause notice if the reason for cancellation cannot be revealed. He then directed the Union Government to produce the relevant files that cited national security reasons and recommended the cancellation of the channel’s license.
On Thursday, the Telugu Film Journalists Association condemned journalist, producer and distributor Suresh Kondeti for his inappropriate question to actor Siddhu Jonnalagadda regarding co-star Neha Shetty, during the trailer launch of their Telugu film DJ Tillu.
“We express our sincere regret over the question posed by a journalist at the trailer launch of DJ Tillu yesterday. While extending solidarity with Neha Shetty, we strongly condemn the journalist for the inappropriate question,” the association wrote.
Sithara Entertainments and Fortune Four Cinemas, the producers of DJ Tillu, conducted a trailer launch event in Hyderabad on Wednesday. Jonnalagadda and Shetty play the leads in the upcoming film.
Kondeti, who runs the weekly magazine Santosham, posed a question in Telugu to Jonnalagadda, during a media interaction with the cast. It was in reference to a dialogue from the trailer, where Jonnalagadda asks Shetty, “How many moles do you have?” to which the latter replies, 16. The journalist asked, “You have found out that she has 16 moles on her body in the film. Have you tried to find out how many moles she has in reality?”
Jonnalagadda maintained his composure when faced with this inappropriate question and simply said, “I think I will avoid the question, sir.”
The video clip of the incident began to go viral on social media soon after.
Shetty then took to Twitter and wrote, “This question was very unfortunate at the trailer launch today.” She went on to add that it only exemplified the respect the journalist has for himself and for the women around him at his work place and at home. Naga Vamsi, the film’s producer, replied to her tweet, saying, “Sorry Neha, that was really unfortunate…”
Subsequently, the journalist took Twitter and tried to justify what he had done. He said he had asked a “romantic question” given that it was a romantic film. He further added that his intention was “very clean” and no “double meaning” was implied in his question.
Kondeti also extended his best wishes to the team and requested that they not take him wrong.
In another tweet, he later apologised to Shetty, saying, “It wasn’t meant to insult/embarrass you at all. I would like to apologise for the trouble caused.”
This is not the first time journalists have put forth inappropriate questions to actors. Recently, during the promotions of Shyam Singha Roy, two of the lead actors of the film, Nani, and Krithi Shetty were quizzed about a kiss that they shared onscreen. Another lead actor of the film, Sai Pallavi had to intervene and explain that the question was making the duo uncomfortable.
As per the latest Media Freedoms report published by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China (FCCC), overseas press agents in China are facing “unprecedented hurdles” due to the government there blocking and discrediting independent reporting.
On-ground coverage of China is becoming difficult with journalists increasingly forced to leave the country, the report adds. The FCCC notes that it is troubled by the growing pace at which freedom of media in the country is declining ahead of the Olympic Games.
China has used the pretext of the coronavirus outbreak to delay approvals of new journalist visas, decline interview requests and cancel reporting trips, the report further states.
The FCCC conducted an annual survey of foreign journalists in which 99% of respondents indicated that the reporting conditions in China were below international standards. In addition, 46% of respondents said that their bureaus were understaffed, as they were unable to bring in the required number of journalists. Further, 52% of them said that they were told to leave a place or denied access for health and safety reasons even when they presented no risk, as per China’s own regulations. 62% of respondents also said that they were obstructed, at least once, by police or other officials.
In addition to this, 88% of journalists who travelled to Xinjiang, an autonomous territory in northwest China that is home to several ethnic minority groups, mentioned that they were followed.
More than a quarter of the respondents also said that their sources were harassed, detained, or called in for questioning by police, multiple times. The report also revealed that Chinese authorities sanctioned lawsuits against foreign journalists, filed by their sources, long after they explicitly agreed to be interviewed.
Further, attacks against foreign journalists in the form of State-backed online trolling campaigns has led residents to assume that foreign media officials are their enemies, resulting in violence against and harassment of journalists on the field. The harassment extends to their families and has been so severe in some instances as to lead to correspondents simply leaving mainland China, the report adds.
Chinese government has been tightening its control over media for some time now. In October 2021, China’s national planning agency released a draft regulation aimed at restricting news media. Released as part of President Xi Jinping’s campaign to expand Communist Party control in the country, the new regulations were an update to the country’s existing restrictions on private investment in media. They also reiterated pre-existing rules prohibiting private outlets from reporting and broadcasting news and added a new ban on hosting news-related forums or award ceremonies.
In its latest report, the FCCC called on China to “boost confidence in its story not by flooding the world with highly orchestrated state propaganda, but by also letting others tell that story.”
TheNew York Timesannounced on Monday, that it has bought Wordle, the online word puzzle game, for an undisclosed seven-figure sum. Created by software engineer Josh Wardle, the game was released last October and now has millions of players.
In a statement, the NYT said that the game will join the New York TimesGames’ portfolio of original, engaging puzzle games, which already include The Mini crossword, Spelling Bee, Letter Boxed, Tiles, and Vertex.
The players of Wordle have six attempts to guess a five-letter, mystery word. As per NYT, the game will initially remain free to new and existing players. However, the news agency also raised concerns that the game may eventually go behind a paywall.
Talking about the acquirement, Wardle said, “If you’ve followed along with the story of Wordle, you’ll know that New York Times Games play a big part in its origins, and so, this step feels very natural to me. I’ve long admired The Times’s approach to the quality of their games and the respect with which they treat their players. Their values are aligned with mine on these matters and I’m thrilled that they will be stewards of the game moving forward.”
The software engineer also wrote in a statement on Twitter, “This step feels very natural to me.” The game, which initially only had 90 people playing it, within two months saw the number growing to 300,000 after people began sharing their scores on social media.
While Twitter users congratulated Wardle over the news, several expressed disappointment over the game going behind a paywall.
Writer Charlotte Clymer took to Twitter and wrote, “NYT buying Wordle is the puzzle equivalent of an out-of-touch politician instantly killing the appeal of a pop culture thing.” She wrote in another tweet, “You can be happy for Mr. Wordle getting a nice payday (which really is quite nice and good for him) and also lament that this kinda sucks. Let’s be real.”
Director Julie Cohen wrote, “How long do you think the New York Times will keep Wordle free to non-subscribers? I’ll give you 6 guesses.”
Another Twitter user wrote, “I have never seen Twitter as immediately mad as it is right now about the NYT wordle buyout. the NYT took one nice and simple thing that a lot of people really liked, a dumb bit of fun in our exhaustingly dark times, and implied that they’ll stick it behind a paywall. exhausting.”
Following the opposition’s demand for a separate discussion on the Pegasus spyware issue in the 2022 budget session at the Parliament, Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi said that there is no scope for a separate discussion on the matter as it is currently sub judice.
“We have told the opposition that during the first part of the Budget session we can only discuss the Budget and the presidential address. Therefore, it would not be possible to hold a separate discussion. In any case, the matter is under court’s jurisdiction right now,” said Joshi, while addressing the media on Monday.
The ‘Pegasus project’ was one of the biggest international investigative journalism stories of 2021. In July, it was revealed that the phone numbers of at least 40 Indian journalists, as well as several politicians, activists and lawyers were part of a list of 50,000 mobile numbers across the globe, that were targeted by the Pegasus spyware, developed by a private Israeli firm. The investigation was globally conducted by a group of 16 news organisations including, The Washington Post,The Guardian, and The Wire.
The list included names of senior journalists, who have compiled investigative reports against the ruling BJP government in India. The Wire’s founder-editors Siddharth Varadarajan and MK Venu, and its regular contributors Rohini Singh and senior columnist Prem Shankar Jha, along with freelance journalist Swati Chaturvedi, former Economics and Political Weekly editor Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, and former Indian Express journalist Sushant Singh, were some of the names on the list.
In August, several journalists and politicians, including N Ram, Sashi Kumar, CPI (M) leader and journalist John Brittas, Jagdeep Chokkar, Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, Rupesh Kumar Singh, SNM Abidi, Narendra Mishra, TMC leader Yashwant Sinha, and the Editor’s Guild of India, filed petitions with the Supreme Court seeking a probe in the matter.
The petitions sought a court-monitored inquiry by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) or a judicial scrutiny into the alleged spying of several activists, politicians, journalists and constitutional bodies using the Pegasus spyware.
On August 17, The Supreme Court issued a notice to the Government of India, and the government had later told the court that no additional affidavit would be filed regarding the use of the illegal spyware, citing “national security concerns.”
Subsequently, in October, the apex court ordered the formation of an independent committee to investigate the allegations made against the Union Government.
Now, new controversy has been stirred up in the issue after a New York Times article titled The Battle for the World’s Most Powerful Cyberweapon, published last week, claimed that India bought Pegasus spyware from Israel in 2017, as part of a $2 billion defence deal.
Following this revelation, the Editor’s Guild of India expressed deep concern and wrote to the committee headed by Justice Raveendran, to acknowledge the issue. In the letter, the Guild has demanded an inquiry into the matter and sought responses on the affidavit from the Government of India, the CAG, as well as Secretaries of all possible ministries that “may have been involved with the claimed purchase of the spyware.”
On Monday, several members of opposition parties, like the Congress and CPI, filed a privilege motion against IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, for allegedly misleading the Parliament on the Pegasus issue.
Joshi, with regard to the privilege motion, said that it is not “strong enough” and added, “The matter is sub judice before the Supreme Court. It is not right for anybody to make a comment, not right for me either.”
Georgian chess champion Nona Gaprindashvili, who suedNetflix in 2021 for false representation of her in the show The Queen’s Gambit, can proceed with her lawsuit as the streamer’s plea to dismiss it was rejected by a US court on Thursday.
The show runs parallel to Gaprindashvili’s life and is based on Walter Tevis’ novel of the same name. It follows the life of fictional American chess prodigy Elizabeth Harmon, played by actor Anya Taylor-Joy, and her journey to becoming a World champion, while tackling her issues with drugs and alcohol.
The suit in question was filed after a line from the series claimed that Gaprindashvili had never faced men. The scene describes Harmon and goes, “The only unusual thing about her, really, is her sex. And even that’s not unique in Russia. There’s Nona Gaprindashvili, but she’s the female world champion and has never faced men.”
The Georgian champion’s filing from 2021 calls this claim sexist and “manifestly false,” noting that by 1968, the year in which the last episode is set, Gaprindashvili had competed against at least 59 male chess players (28 of them simultaneously, in one game), including at least ten Grandmasters.
Further, it points out that the error was made despite Netflix hiring renowned chess players and experts, Gary Kasporav and Bruce Pandolfini, to work as consultants on the show.
Gaprindashvili is seeking $5 million as damages.
Netflix tried to brush the mention off as a minor inaccuracy that did not imply Gaprindashvili’s inferiority. The platform further argued that the show came with a disclaimer that it is entirely a work of fiction.
However, the court, on Thursday, observed that there was no precedent of defamation suits being disallowed because the wrongful portrayal of real persons happened in a fictional work. The series being a work of fiction would thus not shield Netflix from liability for defamation, the court added.
“Despite the presence of fiction surrounding the line, however, the court cannot ignore that the series does reference real people and events and most importantly, the line identifies a real person, the plaintiff, by name, references her real career, and then shows an actor sitting in the audience who resembles plaintiff,” Judge Virginia A Phillips wrote in her ruling.
The judge also noted that the line was “dismissive of the accomplishments central to the plaintiff’s (Gaprindashvili) reputation” and impacts her ongoing professional pursuits, owing to the show’s popularity, as it referenced her by her name.
The Queen’s Gambit, which released on October 23, 2020, hit a viewership record of 62 million views within 28 days of its release. After the show’s premiere, the book it is based on was featured on The New York Times best seller list, 37 years after its publication.
The Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B Ministry), on Friday, ordered the blocking of 35 YouTube channels, two Twitter accounts, two Instagram accounts, two websites, and a Facebook account for spreading ‘anti-India propaganda’ and ‘fake news’.
Vikram Sahay, the joint secretary of the I&B Ministry said, “The common factor amongst all these accounts have been that they operate from Pakistan and spread fake anti-India news and other content”.
The channels were featuring content on the death of late Chief of Defence staff Gen. Bipin Rawat, public order, separatism and the Indian army.
The ministry said that their direction to the Department of Telecom and internet service providers to block these channels is underway.
After receiving intelligence inputs about the channels on Thursday, the ministry issued five separate orders to block their content. According to a report by the Indian Express, all 35 YouTube accounts were operating from Pakistan and two of them were identified as ‘Apni Duniya Network’ and ‘Talha Films Network’. While ‘Apni Duniya Network’ was operating 14 channels, ‘Talha’ was operating 13 YouTube channels. The ministry believes that all these accounts were operating with “a single goal of spreading fake news oriented towards the Indian audience.”
According to ANI, these channels also boasted of a huge subscriber and viewership count. “They are YouTube channels with a 1.20 crore subscriber base, 130 crore views. Now since this process has started, I’m sure that more and more such channels will get blocked. Our Intelligence agencies are at work. We’ll look forward to your support too,” said I&B Ministry Secretary Apurva Chandra.
Earlier in December last year, the I&B Ministry had blocked 20 Pakistan-based YouTube channels and two websites under the IT Rules, 2021. The channels had a combined subscriber base of 35 lakh and their content was viewed more than 55 crore times. The Scrollreported that the channels were part of a network called the ‘Naya Pakistan Group’ and were being operated by Pakistani news anchors.
Vishal Kumar Jha, an alleged suspect in the ongoing ‘Bulli Bai’ app case, was denied anticipatory bail by a Delhi court, on Saturday.
A week before Jha’s bail rejection, 20-year-old Neeraj Bishnoi, allegedly the main creator and conspirator behind the app, was also denied bail, as per a Live Law report.
In Jha’s case, the court observed that the conduct of the accused persons in the matter is “against the ever cherished constitutional ethos of secularism and fraternity ensuring dignity of any individual and modesty of a woman.”
The matter came to the forefront after nearly 112 Muslim women found themselves listed on an online auction app, including actor Shabana Azmi, journalists such as Ismat Ara, Arfa Khanum Sherwani, Fatima Khan and Kashmir-based Quratulain Rehbar, author Saba Naqvi, poet Nabiya Khan, RJ Sayema, Pakistani Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai, activist Khalida Parveen, and several other female Muslim activists, who frequently voice their opinions on social media.
The app hosted on GitHub uploaded pictures of the Muslim women and their Twitter handles as part of a fake ‘online auction’ along with the caption ‘Bulli of the day’. Nearly 80 Muslim women were earlier listed “for sale” on a similar fake online auction known as ‘Sulli Deals‘, also hosted by GitHub in July 2021.
After complaints were registered by the women, on January 3, the Mumbai Police Cyber Cell detained and arrested 18-year-old Shweta Singh from Uttarakhand. Jha was the first to be arrested from Bangalore, in connection to the case. He maintained that he was falsely implicated in the case, accused of merely following the Bulli Bai app, and is not a flight risk. He applied for bail, based on grounds that the prosecution had failed to produce concrete evidence supporting the allegations made against him, in the case.
Shortly after, police arrested 21-year-old Mayank Rawat from Uttarakhand, and finally prime accused Bishnoi, on January 6.
The Kashmir Press Club was shut down on Monday, a couple of days after the takeover of the institution by a group of journalists with the active support of the state police and CRPF. Expressing ‘deep anguish’ over the action, the Editors Guild of India issued a statement condemning the move, on Tuesday.
“With the shutting down of the club and government reverting the land back to the Estates Department, an important journalistic institution in a region that has seen the worst kind of state heavy handedness against any independent media, has been effectively dismantled,” the Guild said.
Several organisations, such as the Press Club of India, the Mumbai Press Club (MPC), and the Editors Guild, had issued statements on Sunday condemning the “forcible takeover” of the Kashmir Press Club and insisting on its immediate restoration and an independent inquiry into the role of armed police forces in the incident.
After Article 370 for Jammu and Kashmir was overturned and the state became a union territory in 2018, the 300-member Kashmir Press Club had applied for a re-registration in May 2021, as required by an April 2021 notification, MPC’s statement explained. On December 29, a Registration Certificate under the Societies Act was issued to the KPC, after a long verification process by the District Commissioner.
Following this, on Thursday, the club, which was under interim management post the re-registration, announced that elections would be held on February 15, to select a new management body as well as executive committee.
The next day, the administration issued an order stating that the re-registration of the club was temporarily suspended pending the receipt of a final report from the Additional District Magistrate, Srinagar. And on Saturday, a group of journalists, led by journalist Saleem Pandit, barged into the premises of the KPC and declaring themselves to be an ‘interim’ body, seized the club with the help of armed policemen, who entered the club without due warrant.
In their statements, the various press bodies urged the restoration of the KPC’s registration as well as the facilitation of the scheduled elections in a peaceful manner.
Photo Source: Kamran Yousuf Twitter
Meanwhile, addressing the media, Pandit said, “We should not be considered as having taken it [the club] over by force. Since there has been a delay in conducting the elections, we have taken it over to run the day-to-day affairs of the club. Give us time, we will do everything for the club, we will build it and ensure it flourishes and work for the welfare of the journalists.”
“We have only decided on an interim president, general secretary and treasurer for the time being. Later, we will create several committees to look into different issues, such as the memberships – to check who are the members and if they are eligible to be members of the club,” Pandit further added.
On the other hand, calling the move “uncivil, illegal, unconstitutional and without any precedence,” the outgoing members of the KPC issued a statement expressing “anguish” over the “arbitrary takeover.”
Speaking to Silverscreen India, Geeta Seshu, co-founder of Free Speech Collective – an organisation that monitors and documents violation of free speech in the country with the aim to protect the right to freedom of expression and the right to dissent – called the takeover “shocking and disturbing.”
“For a faction of journalists to resort to such undemocratic methods to take over an independent journalists’ organisation is unheard of. Bringing armed escorts to a club created to provide a safe space for journalists in their work and recreation, sends a very alarming signal about the state of the media that already operates under huge pressure in one of the most militarised zones in the world,” she said.
She further noted that this takeover comes at a time when journalists in Kashmir are already “under extreme pressure and work in an atmosphere of intimidation and fear.” Seshu went on to add that such actions further destabilise independent media institutions and curtail their freedom.
The Kashmir region is notable for several such curbs on the freedom of the press, which have occurred with increasing frequency in recent times.
Recently, a Kashmir-based journalist Sajad Gul was booked under the Public Safety Act (PSA) for posting a video on social media which showed a family protesting against the Indian government.
Other alarming incidents affecting the press include the killing of the editor of Rising Kashmir, Shujaat Bukhari, in June 2018; the FIR filed against journalist Peerzara Ashiq in April 2020 for a report he had filed for The Hindu; freelance photographer Masrat Zahra being charged under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA); the sudden sealing of the Srinagar office of the Kashmir Times in October 2020; Fahad Shah, the editor-in-chief of The Kashmir Walla, being detained for the third time for his writings in March 2021; and in April 2021, the issue of an advisory by the Kashmir Police forbidding journalists from reporting live encounters with militants.
The Boris Johnson-led UK government announced on Monday that it has decided to freeze the licence fee of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) at £159 for the next two years.
“The BBC wanted the fee to rise to over £180 by the end of the settlement. Instead, it will remain fixed at £159 until April 1, 2024. That’s more money in the pockets of pensioners; in the pockets of families who are struggling to make ends meet,” said UK’s cultural secretary Nadine Dorries, about the move that comes as a serious blow to the national broadcaster.
During the session at the House of Commons on Monday, Dorries also noted that it was time to begin questioning the funding of the BBC and whether the license fee was appropriate.
According to a New York Times report, BBC’s chairman Richard Sharp and its director-general Tim Davies, said in a statement, that the funding freeze is “disappointing” and that it will “necessitate tougher choices.”
The licence fee is the amount that all TV owners in the country must must pay, and it is the primary source of funding for the BBC. Introduced in 1923, the fee used to pay for radio. Currently, it funds eight national television channels, 10 radio stations, local stations (including Welsh and Gaelic language services), educational content and on-demand services.
This fee has increased in line with inflation annually over the past five years, as per NYT, and negotiations concerning the amount for the next five years had been on since late 2020 between the BBC and the UK government.
A freeze on this licence fee, coming as it does at a time when Britain is facing its highest level of inflation in a decade, could force the BBC, which is already involved in an extensive cost-cutting plan, to make further cuts, the NYT report notes. In 2021, the broadcaster cut 1200 jobs in a move to save £800 million annually and this financial year, it plans for its savings to rise above £950 million.
As per a Reutersreport, analysts have said the below-inflation settlement will induce cuts in the BBC’s output. The government’s recent move and proposal to debate the continuance of the licence fee has also sparked accusations of ‘cultural vandalism’.
Photo Source: David Scheider, Hugh Grant, Felicity Hannah, Matt Lucas Twitter
The BBC’s funding through the licence fee is currently guaranteed till the end of 2027, after which new terms will be decided by the government.
Ahead of the parliament session on Monday, Dorries had tweeted that it was time to “discuss and debate new ways of funding, supporting and selling great British content.” Hinting at doing away with the licence fee altogether, she had said, “The days of the elderly being threatened with prison sentences and bailiffs knocking on doors, are over. ”
Dorries and other Conservatives have long argued for an overhaul in BBC’s funding method. They have also claimed that the broadcaster is too left-leaning and too London-centric.
During the session at the House of Commons, Dorries said that it was necessary for the BBC to address the challenges of modern broadcasting, while engaging with the British public across UK and not just London. She further added that in the last few months, she has made her stance clear on the need for the BBC to address issues around impartiality and “group think.”
Meanwhile, Lucy Powell, spokesperson for culture for the opposition, told the parliament that the funding freeze was an attack on one of the biggest institutions in British public life, and accused Dorries of “cultural vandalism.”
Others like Meera Selva, deputy director of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford, feel that the license fee is the closest model “for preserving editorial independence.”
Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati, religious leader and one of the organisers of and event in Haridwar that saw promotion of anti-Muslim hate speech in December 2021, was arrested on Saturday according to a report by NDTV.
This is the second arrest made in the hate speech conclave case, with Jitendra Narayan Singh Tyagi, who was Waseem Rizvi before he converted, to be the first accused to be arrested on Friday. Rizvi’s arrest came after the Supreme Court directed the Uttarakhand government to submit an affidavit within 10 days of action.
Narsinghanand is among the 10 people named in the FIRs registered against speeches that called for genocide and the use of arms against Muslims.
The dharma sansad, or religious assembly, was held from December 17 to December 19, 2021, and was titled Islamic Bharat Me Sanatan Ka Bhavishya [The Future of Sanatan (Dharma) in Islamic India]. Organised by Narsinghanand, the priest of Dasna Devi temple in Ghaziabad and recently anointed ‘Mahamandaleshwar’ of the Juna Akhara, the event witnessed mass gathering and was attended by speakers like Annapurna Maa, Dharamdas Maharaj from Bihar, Anand Swaroop Maharaj, Sagar Sindhuraj Maharaj, Swami Premanand Maharaj, and BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay.
Giving the moto of ‘Shastra Mev Jayate’ to incite armed violence against Muslims, Narsinghanand said, “Economic boycott won’t work. Hindu groups need to update themselves. Swords look good on stage only. This battle will be won by those with better weapons.”
Sadhvi Annapurna, who is currently under the police radar, said, “If you want to finish them off, then kill them… We need 100 soldiers who can kill 20 lakh of them to win this.”
Apart from Muslims, other minorities were also targeted during the event that was streamed live on social media.
It received flak from people across the globe. Students and faculty of the Indian Institutes of Management penned a letter, addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking him to speak up for minorities in the country.
They criticised Modi for his silence on the rising intolerance and added, “There is a sense of fear in our country now – places of worship, including churches in recent days, are being vandalised, and there have been calls to take arms against our Muslim brothers and sisters. All of this is carried out with impunity and without any fear of due process.”
Twitter trended with hashtags #StopIndianMuslimGenocide, #StopPersecutingIndianChristians, and #StopPrsectingDalits, as people condemned the act.
The January cover of Vanitha features a family photo of the actor along with the text Oru Prarthana Maathram, Dileep Kudumbasametham (Only one prayer, Dileep and his family) and story’s headline reads Ente Yudham Sathyam Jaikkan (My Battle to Win the Truth). This has notably been published just as a fresh probe has been launched by the Kerala police against Dileep, after new revelations in the assault case have come to light.
Vanitha positions itself as a ‘women-friendly’ magazine – its name translates to ‘woman’ and its tagline, Sthreekalude Suhruthum Vazhikaattiyum, means ‘Friend and Guide of Women’ – and it has consequently received considerable backlash for propping up an accused in a sexual assault case.
The cover story, which is an interview with Dileep and his wife, tries to prove that the truth is on his side and aims to garner sympathy for the actor by using his family as a backdrop. The interview in its entirety seems to be an attempt at whitewashing the Janapriya Nayakan’s accused image.
Let’s look into what exactly Dileep had to say in the interview with Vijeesh Gopinath.
The actor begins by speaking about his recently released filmKesu Ee Veedinte Nadhan, and then reminiscing of his childhood memories, financial struggles, and so on. When he moves on to addressing the sexual assault case, Dileep says, “I have answers for all the allegations raised against me. However, I am unable to speak about it to the public or media as the case is still in court. I can only speak in court. I am someone who believes in law and order. I have utmost faith in god, the courts, and truth. The truth will come out, until then I have only one prayer, I should not lose my mental strength and life.”
On February 17, 2017, a female Malayalam actor was abducted and sexually assaulted in a moving vehicle. Actor Dileep was arrested that July after investigations pointed to him having orchestrated the assault. The case has been pending in court for years now and has seen several major twists and turns with recent revelations against the actor reigniting public interest.
To a question from the interviewer on what these four years have taught him, Dileep says that he understood it is family and friends that stand with him during such situations. He also adds that he took the initiative to talk to people who spoke against him and “mistook” him.
Dileep’s wife, Kavya Madhavan, then speaks about the “bad mental stress” she went through when her husband was arrested a few months after their marriage.
Dileep, meanwhile, takes pains to mention that his mother was completely shattered by what happened to him.
Photo Source: Vanitha Magazine
He also notes that he is indebted to the audience for their reception to Ramaleela. “It was the first film that was released when I was at the worst phase of my life.”
Ramaleela had been released just a couple of months after his arrest.
He recalls that there were protests to boycott the film till the day before to its release. “However, the audiences received the film well and made it a super hit. That’s why I am able to sit here and talk about it today,” he says, adding that but for that, it would have taken a lot of time for him to come back.
The interview also tries to gain sympathy for the actor by noting that he had earlier confessed that he wanted to die by suicide after producing the film Twenty: 20.
“I don’t know why people have so much enmity against me,” Dileep says at one point. “I am an artist who aims to make people smile. I have a mother, brother, wife and daughters. Their future depends on me. That’s why I am fighting this battle, for my family. This phase will pass,” he adds.
He also states that he is believer and says it is his belief that everything happening to him is due to his bad time (“samaya dhosham“).
Meanwhile, breaking her long silence, the survivor publicly opened up for the first time on Monday, through her official social media account. In her Instagram post, she extended her gratitude to all those who have supported her.
Dileep, who was granted bail in 2017 in the sexual assault case, has recently been charged with plotting to kill the police officers who were investigating that case. His anticipatory bail plea in the new FIR is up for hearing on Friday.
For a full timeline of the female actor abduction and assault case, see here.
Hindi film actor Jacqueline Fernandez issued a statement on Saturday addressing a leaked intimate photo of her and conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar that went viral online.
Taking to her Instagram, the Bhoot Police actor requested the media to respect her privacy. She wrote, “This country and its people have always given me tremendous love and respect. This includes my friends from the media, from whom I have learned a lot. I am currently going through a rough patch but I am sure that my friends and fans will see me through it. It is with this trust that I would request my media friends to not circulate images of a nature that intrude my privacy and personal space. You would not do this to your own loved ones, am sure you would not do this to me either. Hoping that justice and good sense prevails. Thank you.”
The actor also disabled comments on the Instagram post.
Fernandez has been linked to Sukesh Chandrashekhar in connection to a Rs 200 crore money laundering case. She has appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) thrice until this point.
Earlier, the actress denied the “alleged slanderous statements” made about her relationship with Chandrashekhar and his wife Leena Maria Paul.
According to the chargesheet filed by ED, she received expensive gifts from Chandrashekhar and she confirmed the same. She alleged that he approached her under the pretext of being the owner of Sun TV. “Shekhar told me that he is a big fan. Soon he told me that I should do movies in south India and that Sun TV is producing many such movies. Since February, I was in touch with him. He gave me his number… and asked me to make calls on this number,” she said.
Sukesh Chandrashekhar has over 20 cases registered against him and was also allegedly running the extortion cases when he was in jail.
In a big blow to Tamil Nadu theatre owners, the release of Valimai, the upcoming Tamil film starring actor Ajith Kumar in the lead role and scheduled to hit the theatres for the occasion of Pongal on January 13, has been postponed, the makers of the film officially announced on Thursday.
Although the new release date has not yet been announced, in a statement, producer Boney Kapoor said that the release has been postponed due to the “steep rise in Covid infections across the globe”.
Valimai, which marks the actor’s return to the screen, three years after Nerkonda Paarvai (2019), has been the most awaited film in his career. Valimai is Directed by H Vinoth and produced by Kapoor. Also starring actors Huma S Qureshi, Karthikeya, Bani, Sumithra, Achyunth Kumar, Yogi Babu, Raj Ayyappa, Pugazh, among others, the film was set to release in Hindi and Telugu as well.
“Audiences and fans have always been the source of our felicity. Their unconditional support and love during the hard times, instilled vital hopes in us to face the hardships and successfully complete our dream project. All that we desired during every single moment was to see them cheerful and happy in the cinema halls. At the same time, the safety and well being of our audiences has always been at the forefront of all our decisions. Given the steep rise in Covid infections across the globe, and abiding by the regulations of the authorities, we have decided to postpone the release of our film Valimai until the situation normalizes,” the makers of Valimai said in the statement.
The Tamil Nadu government, in an order issued on Wednesday, imposed lockdown restrictions, night curfew, and in a previous order had permitted cinema halls to function only at 50% occupancy, owing to a rise in Covid-19 cases.
Valimai is the latest in a line of to films that have deferred their scheduled release in January. Release of pan-Indian films, RRR and Radhe Shyam, has also been postponed indefinitely. Theatre owners, speaking to Silverscreen India earlier, had said that they had pinned their hopes on Valimai‘s release, as per schedule, after other big-budget films opted out of the race.
The 79th Golden Globe Awards this year, which is set to happen on January 9, will go ahead with no audience or media, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced on Tuesday. In fact, the event will also see no celebrity presenters, Variety has reported.
This comes at a time when HFPA, Golden Globes’ curator, came under fire after an LA Times investigation revealed that there were no black members among the 87 HFPA members. The organisation was thus, boycotted by Netflix and Amazon Studios, along with several other studios. Its broadcasting partner NBC also distanced itself after the controversy. Following the report, Tom Cruise returned his three Golden Globe awards, while other celebrities such as Scarlett Johanssen and Mark Ruffalo asked others in Hollywood to “step back” from the HFPA.
The HFPA was further criticised for the Golden Globe nominations in its 2021 edition for not including Oscar frontrunners Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and Da 5 Bloods, both of which are black-led films.
According to the report in Variety, an email from a talent booker for the Golden Globes indicated that showrunners were inquiring about celebrities joining the show to present, but sources revealed that no famous faces agreed to present, likely considering the backlash.
However, according to the press release by HFPA, it is “because of the current pandemic surge”.While it has been stated that the awards will be revealed from the Beverly Hilton on January 9 it has not been mentioned whether the show will be televised, or how the winners will be revealed.
It is also unclear as to how the association plans on broadcasting the event this year with NBC out of the equation. The nominations were announced on its YouTube channel this year and were read out by singer and rapper Snoop Dogg.
Post the backlash, the HFPA announced a reform plan and also added 21 new members in what it describes as its “most diverse class to date.”
Citizen News, one of the last functioning independent news organisations in Hong Kong, has announced that it will cease its operations from Tuesday owing to the “deteriorating media environment.” It is the third media house in the erstwhile British colony to shut down in recent times after Stand News last week and Apple Daily in June 2021.
Citizen News is shutting down after functioning for five years. It was founded on January 1, 2017 by a group of veteran journalists and has been supported entirely by crowdfunding, according to a CNN report.
“We have never forgotten our original intent,” the statement from Citizen News read. “Sadly, we can no longer strive to turn our beliefs into reality without fear because of the sea change in the society over the past two years and the deteriorating media environment. At the centre of a brewing storm we found ourselves in a critical situation. In the face of a crisis, we must ensure the safety and well-being of everyone on board.”
The changes alluded to in the statement refer to the passage of the national security law in 2020 and the crackdown on press freedom in its aftermath. The law was implemented in the wake of the civil disobedience movement that broke out in Hong Kong in 2019. It is aimed at censoring voices that endorse, support, glorify, encourage, or incite activities that might “endanger national security.”
The new law has curbed the freedom of citizens in several ways, with news agencies becoming a primary target. The most recent of these was the pro-democracy media house Stand News that ceased functioning on December 30 after six of its employees were arrested and tons of journalistic material seized following a raid at its offices.
Over 200 police personnel were deployed to conduct the raid on the media outlet. Acting chief editor Patrick Lam, former editor-in-chief Chung Pui-kuen, former director and ex-chief editor of the science section Chow Tat-chi, and former board members Christine Fang, pro-democracy singer Denise Ho, and barrister Margaret Ng were arrested by the authorities. While the last four were released a day later, Lam and Pui-kuen have been charged with allegedly conspiring to publish seditious content.
Earlier, in June 2021, another pro-democracy newspaper, Apple Daily, shut down operations after it was raided and its executives were arrested for alleged “collusion with a foreign country.” Additional charges were imposed last week against its founder Jimmy Lai and six other former staff members as part of their trial under the national security law.
Citizen News’ exit now leaves Hong Kong with even fewer independent news organisations.
“Last night’s interview with Alan Dershowitz after the Ghislaine Maxwell verdict did not meet the BBC’s editorial standards, as Mr Dershowitz was not a suitable person to interview as an impartial analyst, and we did not make the relevant background clear to our audience. We will look into how this happened,” read the news agency’s statement.
A former Harvard Law School professor, Dershowitz gained notoriety after Virginia Giuffre, a victim of Epstein’s, filed a lawsuit against him and alleged that he had sexually abused her. Dershowitz has denied these allegations and has filed a defamation suit against Giuffre.
Even before Giuffre’s complaint, Dershowitz was known for being a long-time acquaintance of Epstein and the one who had aided the late American financier in obtaining an easy plea deal in 2008. This was around the time Epstein was under investigation for sexually abusing underage girls.
Epstein died by suicide in his prison cell in 2019, after he was charged with sex trafficking and exploiting several girls and women.
On Wednesday, Epstein’s associate Maxwell was convicted for trafficking and sexually abusing underage girls.
Following this, despite his questionable background, BBC interviewed Dershowitz and left out the parts that potentially connected him to Maxwell’s trial and conviction via Giuffre. Instead, the broadcasting agency introduced Dershowitz as a “constitutional lawyer” who would provide analysis on the verdict. This step drew much criticism on social media.
Adam Wagner, a human rights barrister, called the action a “huge error” on BBC’s part.
Another Twitter user and human rights activist, Caoilfhionn Gallagher QC, called the decision bizarre. She wrote, “Sorry, what?! BBC Newsnow have Alan Dershowitz on to analyse Ghislaine Maxwell’s conviction, without any reference to his background; he’s simply introduced as ‘constitutional lawyer’ as if he’s a neutral expert. Shocked.”
However, Dershowitz himself supposedly mentioned the connection during the interview, and said, “Well, I think the most important thing, particularly for British viewers, [is that] the government was very careful who it used as witnesses [in Maxwell’s trial]. It did not use as a witness the woman who accused Prince Andrew, accused me, accused many other people because the government didn’t believe she was telling the truth. In fact, she, Virginia Giuffre, was mentioned in the trial as somebody who brought young people to Epstein for him to abuse.”
He also said that Maxwell’s conviction further weakened the case of sexual abuse against Prince Andrew, who is also named a perpetrator in Giuffre’s lawsuit. She has sued the Duke of York for allegedly sexually assaulting and battering her, when she was 17.
Hong Kong’s Police National Security Department has formally pressed charges against two staff members of Stand News, as well as the organisation itself, for allegedly conspiring to publish seditious content.
According to the authorities, the two men – aged 34 and 52 – were found to be in contravention of sections 9 (seditious intentions) and 10 (offences that comprise seditious intentions) of the Crimes Ordinance, that was put in place when Hong Kong was still under British rule. They were to be produced before the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court on Thursday afternoon.
While the men have not been named in the official statement, local media reports suggest that it might be the media outlet’s former editors-in-chief, Patrick Lam and Chung Pui-kuen.
Meanwhile, Denise Ho, pro-democracy singer and former member of Stand News, was released from custody on Thursday. She was seen walking out of court 36 hours after being taken into custody.
Lam, Ho, and Chung were three of the six Stand News staff members arrested on Wednesday, after a raid was conducted at the premises of the non-profit news outlet by over 200 national security officers. The others who were apprehended were Chow Tat-chi, former director and ex-chief editor of the science section, former board member Christine Fang, and barrister Margaret Ng.
Head of Hong Kong Journalists Association, Ronson Chan, was detained as well to “assist investigation” though he was not arrested.
Lam resigned from his post shortly after and the media house ceased operations that same day. Stand News also wiped its social media footprint from the internet. However, tons of journalistic material that belonged to the now defunct organisation were carried away by the police department.
While multiple foreign news publications criticised the Hong Kong authorities for curbing the freedom of the press, a government spokesperson slammed the international coverage, especially the American media, for its “slandering remarks on the enforcement actions taken in accordance with the law.”
The law in question is the Beijing-imposed national security law passed by Hong Kong in 2020 in the wake of the civil disobedience movement that broke out in the former British colony in 2019. It is aimed at censoring voices that endorse, support, glorify, encourage, or incite activities that might “endanger national security.”
Hong Kong-based media house, Stand News, discontinued operations on Wednesday after the police raided its office and arrested six staff members on suspicion of conspiring to publish seditious pieces.
The Facebook page of the media outlet also announced that all the information on its website as well as its social media pages will be removed within a few days.
Over 200 national security officers were deployed to conduct the raid at the premises of the non-profit news outlet, according to a Hong Kong Free Pressreport.
Those apprehended include acting chief editor Patrick Lam and former editor-in-chief Chung Pui-kuen, along with Chow Tat-chi, former director and ex-chief editor of the science section. Lam is said to have resigned immediately after his arrest. Former board members Christine Fang, pro-democracy singer Denise Ho, and barrister Margaret Ng were also reportedly taken into custody.
Head of Hong Kong Journalists Association, Ronson Chan, was detained as well to “assist investigation” though he was not arrested. Chan, who was released a little later, told HKFP that the police confiscated his electronic devices, his Stand News press card, and his bank passbook.
Photo Caption: Stand News declares cessation of operations; Credit: Facebook
Police said that they had issued a warrant for the raid under Schedule 1 of the Implementation Rules for Article 43 of the national security law. The rule empowers the Hong Kong Police to search premises and other relevant places, to freeze and confiscate property, and conduct surveillance on people or organisations suspected of committing “serious crimes.”
In a press conference, Steve Li, senior superintendent of the Police National Security Department, said that the authorities had frozen assets totalling HK$61 million, including computers, mobile phones and HK$500,000 in cash. Li added that the police was not targeting the media, but was just taking action against “national security offences.”
Hong Kong passed the Beijing-imposed national security law in 2020 in the wake of the civil disobedience movement that broke out in the former British colony in 2019. It is aimed at censoring voices that endorse, support, glorify, encourage, or incite activities that might “endanger national security.”
The new law has curbed the freedom of citizens in several ways, with news agencies becoming a primary target.
In June, the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily shut down operations after it was raided and its executives were arrested for alleged “collusion with a foreign country.” Additional charges were imposed on Tuesday against its founder Jimmy Lai and six other former staff members as part of their trial under the national security law.
Stand News has come under fire now in a similar fashion.
Photo Credit: Facebook
A winner of the Reporters Without Borders 2021 Press Freedom Prize, Stand News was founded in 2014 after its predecessor House News shut down for safety reasons. According to a Reutersreport, the Stand News charter states that it shall be independent, autonomous, and committed to safeguarding Hong Kong’s core values of “democracy, human rights, rule of law and justice.”
The publication has been critical of various actions of Hong Kong authorities, including the city’s smart prison programme and the Tai Tam Gap Correctional Institution. Moreover, the staff members arrested have vocally criticised mainland China’s intentions towards Hong Kong.
Former lawmaker Margaret Ng had earlier noted that “China has always found it difficult to accept the kind of freedom and restraint to power that Hong Kong has under a separate system.”
The raids thus come as no surprise.
Earlier this year, Hong Kong authorities also began cracking down on cinema with the passing of a new film censorship law, which announced a retroactive ban on films with content deemed offensive to national security. Punishment for the screening or exhibition of unauthorised films include three years in prison and a fine of HK$1 million.
The US Congress sent a notice to Live Nation, the organiser and promoter of Travis Scott‘s Astroworld concert which witnessed the death of 10 people due to a crowd surge, and sought information on the planning of the festival, on Wednesday.
The Committee of Oversight and Reform, in a statement addressed to Live Nation President and CEO Michael Rapino, wrote, “Concert attendees have provided firsthand accounts of being crushed within the crowd as it surged towards the stage,” and held Live Nation responsible for “planning, staffing, putting up money, securing permits, finding vendors, communicating with local agencies,” for the festival.
Live Nation is required to submit written answers to the committee’s queries, by January 7 next year. A session is scheduled five days later which will be centered around Astroworld as well as earlier events organised by the company.
The company is directed to submit security and crowd details with pre-show security assessment records, responses to the management of unruly crowd, and the policies on medical care among others. It also noted that the organiser withheld the payments of Astroworld employees until they signed revised contracts.
Scott’s Astroworld concert was held on November 5, and witnessed a footfall of 50,000 people.
A stampede followed and crushed attendees after the crowd surged towards the stage, the statement noted.
The incident left 10 dead, eight of whom died the night of the event. It also left multiple people injured. While Indian-American student Bharti Shahani succumbed to her injuries on November 11, 9-year-old Ezra Blount became the youngest victim on November 15.
The statement further quoted multiple reports with attendees as eyewitnesses, as well as expert voices which indicated a clear failure on the management’s part.
“The police activity log shows that, by 9:38 p.m., Houston Police officers and firefighters responded to reports of a “mass casualty event.”8 Houston Fire Chief Sam Peña stated that after local law enforcement received the initial reports of people sustaining injuries in the crowd, “our people stepped up and immediately went to the producers and told them, ‘Hey, people are going down,'” the notice read.
It added that the concert was not halted until after 10 p.m., despite the rapper’s stand that he “did stop a couple times just to make sure everybody was okay.”
Both Scott and Live Nation have been slapped with hundreds of lawsuits alleging negligence and misconduct. An online petition followed on change.org that sought to remove the rapper from music festivals after his concert in Houston.
In the light of the legal battle that Scott is embroiled in, he was recently removed from the lineup of the North American festival Coachella.
A Mumbai court on Saturday rejected actor Kangana Ranaut’s plea to transfer her extortion case against lyricist Javed Akhtar out of Andheri court according to a Live Law report.
The court had earlier refused a similar application by Ranaut to transfer the defamation case Akhtar filed against her in 2020. An appeal against the order was filed in the sessions court yesterday.
Ranaut alleged that during her public spat with actor Hrithik Roshan in 2016, the veteran lyricist and screenwriter invited her and her sister Rangoli Chandel to his house with malafide intentions and forced her to give a written apology to Roshan. She also claimed that Akhtar threatened her with dire consequences if she refused.
She sought transfer of the complaint as she had already alleged bias against the Andheri Magistrate hearing the defamation case. She did not wish to proceed with her extortion complaint before the same judge, she said.
Akhtar’s lawyer argued that the plea was not maintainable since the Magistrate had not even heard the complaint. “Moreover, the extortion complaint is a counter blast to the defamation case filed by Akhtar earlier and therefore should be heard by the same Magistrate currently hearing the defamation case,” the report read.
The defamation case can be traced time back to November 2020 when Akhtar had filed a complaint against Ranaut alleging that she had made defamatory remarks about him during an interview with Republic TV after the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput by suicide on July 14. In the interview aired on July 19, 2020, Ranaut said that some of the senior members of the Hindi film industry, including Akhtar, were part of a “gang” that was against “outsiders” in the industry.
Last week, Akhtar also moved a Mumbai court and sought a non-bailable warrant against Ranaut for not appearing before the court in the ongoing case. He submitted a few of the actor’s Instagram posts, and stated that she had attended other events during the time she did not appear in court citing ill health. Alleging Ranaut’s deliberate attempts at delaying court proceedings, he also listed the number of exemptions sought by Ranaut in the case for various reasons since March.
The Bombay High Court, on Wednesday, relaxed Aryan Khan’s bail conditions and ruled that he need not appear before the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), every Friday, in relation to the cruise ship drug raid case, according to a Live Law report.
The order followed Khan’s application last week, that sought modification to his bail conditions after the investigation was transferred to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the NCB branch in Delhi.
Khan’s plea cited difficulties that he faced during his visits to the NCB office in Mumbai, including being accosted by the media, which was present every time he appeared to mark his attendance.
However, Khan will have to present himself before SIT Delhi, as and when required, provided a prior notice of 72 hours is given, noted Justice Nitin Sambre.
The 24-year-old was arrested on October 3 by the NCB during a cruise ship drug raid based on a tip-off. The agency allegedly seized 13 gm of cocaine, 21 gm of charas or hashish, 22 pills of MDMA (ecstasy), 5 gm mephedrone, and cash worth Rs 1.33 lakh, and Khan was taken into NCB custody, along with a few others, including his friend Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha.
Khan, along with two other accused, was granted bail on October 28 and 13 bail conditions which included weekly Friday visits to the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) office were set out.
Recently, Khan was also interrogated for hours by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the NCB. He was questioned about the circumstances under which he boarded the cruise, his links to drug suppliers, and about his peer group and their drug-related habits and preferences. Khan was also asked if he had planned to do drugs onboard the cruise.
Further, the SIT team asked Khan about his WhatsApp chats that were cited by Sameer Wankhede’s team in court while opposing his bail. Wankhede and his team had claimed in court during every hearing that Khan had “incriminating” WhatsApp chats that indicated consumption of drugs as well as the purchase of larger quantities.
