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India Today Group imposes social media gag on its employees, and says it is not a free speech issue

The India Today Group has directed its journalists to not share their personal political views on “any social media platform”, in order to maintain the company’s “reputation for impartiality”. Alarmingly, even as the company communicated the rule to its employees over an email on Wednesday, it wrote in the email “that this is not, by any means, a breach of your right to expression or freedom of the press”, and argued that free and fair journalism existed even before the advent of social media. MediaNama has seen a copy of the email. This guideline is effective immediately, and will be in effect for the next two months. "ANY deviation or breach” from the direction can result in termination, the company warned in the email. The India Today Group owns and operates an eponymous English news channel and magazine, along with Hindi news channel Aaj Tak, among others. When MediaNama reached out to the company, it tried to downplay the entire incident, by claiming that the policy change was just a "short reminder of the best practices the Group follows" (more on that below). If the directive was indeed a reiteration of best practices, it is unclear why it is only applicable for two months, and doesn't constitute an interim gag order for journalists. While news organisations around the world such as the New York Times are known to restrict their employees from posting partisan endorsements or voicing support for political stances, the wide-ranging gag imposed by India Today is notable for how far…

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