India, ranked 142nd out of 180 countries on the World Press Freedom Index, and has now announced the withdrawal of government recognition of journalists working against the country's security. The central government has announced that it will remove government sanction for journalists who seek to undermine India's sovereignty and integrity under the new law. The PIB has announced new approvals and the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has formulated a policy in this regard.
Under the new policy, journalists working for India's sovereignty, integrity and security of the states may lose their official recognition. The previous policy issued in 2013, under general terms of accreditation, stated that it “shall be withdrawn as soon as the conditions on which it was given cease to exist. Accreditation is also liable to be withdrawn/suspended if it is found to have been misused”. Violations of the rules in the previous policy were said to be suspended. Also, journalists convicted of serious crimes were to be de-recognized. Among the terms of the suspension of recognition was the involvement of false propaganda, non-journalistic acts. It also prohibits a journalist from mentioning “accreditated to the Government of India” on social media, visiting cards or letterheads etc.
Accredited journalists are allowed to reach government offices in Delhi. Also, this recognition is binding for admission to many events in the presence of the President and the Prime Minister. According to the new policy, journalists working on online platforms will also be eligible for accreditation. In that case, the platform should be active for more than 1 year. The website of 10 to 50 lakh unique visitors per month can get the recognition of a journalist. So, 4 journalists from a media platform with over 1 crore unique visitors per month will be recognized. At present PIB has 2457 accredited journalists. In addition to reputable media organizations, there are also freelance journalists with more than 15 years of experience. Also, there are journalists who are over 65 years of age and have 30 to 35 years of experience with a “publicly acclaimed distinguished career” are also eligible.