“Under the pretext of maintaining security, the state government’s arbitrary actions undermine press freedom,” wrote the Editors Guild of India (EGI) in its letter condemning the arbitrary suspension of social media accounts of journalists and media organizations during the recent Punjab internet shutdowns. The letter, dated April 3, 2023, states that “no due processes” were followed by the authorities during the suspension of the social media handles. It also notes that the action violated principles of natural justice, which essentially relates to Article 14 of the Indian Constitution guaranteeing equality before the law and protection from discriminatory state action. The Guild also notes that the Supreme Court in Shreya Singhal v Union of India had laid down that “all reasonable efforts must be made to identify and notify the people whose information is sought to be blocked before access is restricted, as well as a right to appeal”, but no such processes seemed to be followed in these shutdowns. https://twitter.com/IndEditorsGuild/status/1642910607425908737 What happened: Twitter handles and Facebook accounts of several prominent journalists have been withheld and blocked since March 17, after the Punjab government ordered the suspension of internet services across the state as part of the operations to arrest the self-proclaimed Sikh preacher Amritpal Singh. Journalists whose Twitter accounts were withheld included Kamaldeep Singh Brar of The Indian Express, Gagandeep Singh from ProPunjab TV, and independent reporter Sandeep Singh, among others. On March 27, the official Twitter account of BBC Punjabi was also withheld. As per Twitter, these accounts…
