Unacceptable: White House on online harassment of journalist who questioned PM Modi on minorities right

The White House has condemned as totally unacceptable the harassment of a US journalist on social media for asking Prime Minister Narendra Modi a question at his joint press conference here with President Joe Biden.

Last week, The Wall Street Journal reporter Sabrina Siddiqui asked Prime Minister Modi about the rights of minorities in India and what steps his government was willing to take to improve them and also uphold free speech. A day after the joint press conference, the reporter faced online abuse for questioning the prime minister, with some alleging that her question was motivated and calling her a Pakistani Islamist.

We're aware of the reports of that harassment. It's unacceptable. And we absolutely condemn any harassment of journalists anywhere under any circumstances. That's completely unacceptable. And it's antithetical to the very principles of democracy that were on display last week during the state visit, National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby told reporters on Monday in response to a question.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, We're certainly here, at the White House, under this administration, committed to the freedom of the press, which is why we had the press conference last week. We certainly condemn any efforts of intimidation or harassment of a journalist or any journalist that is just trying to do their job. And so, I just want to be very clear about that, she said.