Twitter and New Delhi are in a war of words over scuttling free speech amid Twitter's non-compliance of social media intermediary norms.

Global IndianstoryFree speech vs law of the land: The Twitter-New Delhi spat

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Free speech vs law of the land: The Twitter-New Delhi spat

Written by: Global Indian

(Our Bureau, May 28) Twitter and New Delhi are involved in a war of words over scuttling free speech amid the American company’s non-compliance of India’s new social media intermediary norms. In a statement yesterday, Twitter accused the Centre of “dangerous overreach that is inconsistent with open, democratic principles” and alleged it has been forced to block portions of “legitimate free speech”. Though Twitter did not disclose details, the two sides were at loggerheads some months ago over blocking more than 1,400 users accused of using inflammatory language during the farmers’ protests. The Jack Dorsey-led company eventually complied.

In a statement yesterday, Twitter accused the Centre of “dangerous overreach that is inconsistent with open, democratic principles.”

‘Manipulated Media’

Twitter once again came on the establishment’s radar after it recently marked posts by some BJP leaders on an alleged ‘Congress toolkit’ as ‘manipulated media’. Further, the microblogging giant said it fears for employees’ safety amid “intimidation tactics” by law enforcement agencies — Twitter’s Gurgaon and Delhi offices were visited by police on Monday as part of a probe in the ‘manipulated media’ matter.

Intermediary norms

The company also expressed concerns over the new intermediary norms which make social media majors liable for criminal and civil action over third-party content on their platforms. Twitter and its ilk are also required to enable a complaint redressal mechanism and trace the ‘first originator’ of information found to ‘undermine the sovereignty of India, security of the state, or public order.’ Twitter wants the IT ministry to seek public consultation on the norms and extend implementation timelines by three months. The rules came into force on May 26

“India has a glorious tradition of free speech and democratic practices dating back centuries. Protecting free speech in India is not the prerogative of only a private, for-profit, foreign entity like Twitter,” the Centre said in a statement.

New Delhi’s retort

Hours after Twitter’s statement, the Centre released a statement on Twitter’s India rival Koo accusing the microblogging leader of dictating terms to the world’s largest democracy. “India has a glorious tradition of free speech and democratic practices dating back centuries. Protecting free speech in India is not the prerogative of only a private, for-profit, foreign entity like Twitter,” the statement read. The government said Twitter itself has been scuttling free speech through its opaque policies and accused the company of not complying with the law of the land.

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Published on 28, May 2021

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Double jeopardy: Taliban and a stint in a US agency leaves this Baloch from Afghanistan nowhere to go

(August 19, 2021) On August 6, when heavily armed Taliban fighters sitting atop Humvees descended on the south western province of Nimruz in war-torn Afghanistan, Abdul Samad Rahimi knew what was coming. Far away from his country in Hyderabad, Rahimi began making frantic calls to his parents even as he watched the developments unfold on television in utter disbelief. By then, his 65-year-old father, a highly respected member of the Baloch tribe, had left his home in Nimruz along with his wife for a safer destination. Over the last 11 days, Rahimi's parents have constantly been on the move, concealing their identities and doing all it takes to escape the Taliban. The Afghan province of Nimruz, which lies on the border with Pakistan and Iran was the first to fall to the Taliban: they'd attacked the province from three directions, leading to a quick collapse of defenses by Afghan security forces. ''Ever since the Taliban took control of Nimruz, I’ve managed to talk to my father only a couple of times over WhatsApp calls. Lack of internet accessibility due to frequent changing of locations is making it difficult to reach him," informs the 34-year-old, his voice choked with emotion. [caption id="attachment_7694" align="aligncenter" width="589"] Abdul Rahimi (extreme right) worked as a language

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''Ever since the Taliban took control of Nimruz, I’ve managed to talk to my father only a couple of times over WhatsApp calls. Lack of internet accessibility due to frequent changing of locations is making it difficult to reach him," informs the 34-year-old, his voice choked with emotion.

[caption id="attachment_7694" align="aligncenter" width="589"] News | Afghanistan Taliban Crisis Updates | Afghan People Crisis Abdul Rahimi (extreme right) worked as a language trainer in Afghanistan[/caption]

Until last month, Rahimi was hopeful of returning to his country and serving his community. His visa expires in September end and he now finds himself at a crossroads; his hopes of returning to his motherland, completely shattered. "As a minority group in Afghanistan, we were happy that a democratic government was in place. Now, all of it has collapsed. I still cannot digest that everything has changed so rapidly," says Rahimi, speaking exclusively to Global Indian.

The Afghan national had come to India on an ICCR scholarship in 2019. With the deteriorating security situation back home, his wife and six-year-old daughter joined him in Hyderabad early this year. He was pursuing MA (TESL) in The English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU) in the city. The course ended recently and the family was looking forward to returning home. "We wanted to get our daughter enrolled in one of the girls' schools there so she could remain closer to our community and serve them. But for the Taliban seizing control, I would have been back in my country. Now, I am stuck here and there is no way we can go back," says Rahimi, who refers to India as his second home. He got married in the year 2015.

[caption id="attachment_7695" align="aligncenter" width="654"] News | Afghanistan Taliban Crisis Updates | Afghan People Crisis Abdul Rahimi (left) back home in Afghanistan during happier times[/caption]

One of the main reasons why Rahimi cannot go back to his country was his stint in USAID, an independent agency of the US government, which helped Afghanistan with foreign aid and development assistance. It helped bring more Afghans back into economic and civic life after years of brutalization by the Taliban before the US sent in its troops in the aftermath of 9/11. "I worked with USAID for 9 months but the Taliban began threatening my father with dire consequences if I did not quit the job. I gave up the job after my father asked me to resign. Now, my city is under the control of a terrorist group (Taliban) and they are hunting for all those who’ve worked with US companies in the last two decades. People like me do not have a place to live there," informs Rahimi.

Whatever little conversations Rahimi has had with some people back home, they tell him that the Taliban, at least for now, appear flexible. "At the moment, it appears they are trying to deceive Afghans by some sweet talk. Sooner or later, they will change their colors and go back to their brutal ways. There is no guarantee for the lives and future of Afghans."

Another reason Rahimi feels at home in India is the government's support for the Baloch people. "People here are kind and we Afghans feel a lot safer here. No one knows what lies ahead for Afghanistan. I shudder to think what will happen to Afghans under the Taliban rule. There will be no freedom of speech, who will hear the voice of the people in the absence of a democratically elected government?" wonders Rahimi, who also worked as a language trainer in a government institution in Afghanistan.

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Over the years, dozens of Baloch activists from Balochistan (Pakistan) have been frequenting Nimruz, which is also close to the borders of the Afghan provinces of Helmand and Farah. "They (Baloch activists) used to feel safe in Nimruz and would take refuge there. Many of them are dislocated after the Taliban takeover," a worried Rahimi says.

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Danish Siddiqui: Remembering the Indian photojournalist who feared no conflict

(July 17, 2021; 4.15 pm) He painted emotions with his photographs, they were evocative, heartrending, stark, and more human than any reportage. For Pulitzer-winner Danish Siddiqui shooting images that put a human face to conflict - portraying the other side of the battle lines - was a passion. The 38-year-old Reuters photojournalist whose images riveted the world, was killed on July 16 while on an assignment covering the Afghanistan-Taliban conflict in Spin Boldak, Kandahar. According to Reuters, he was reporting on fighting between Afghan commandos and Taliban fighters when he was hit in the arm by a shrapnel. He received first aid and by then, the Taliban fighters had retreated from fighting. However, when Siddiqui had been talking to shopkeepers, the Taliban had attacked again when the photojournalist was killed. [embed]http://twitter.com/dansiddiqui/status/1415014061687906304?s=20[/embed] A Reuters photographer since 2010, Siddiqui’s work got noticed because of his penchant for shooting evocatively even in conflict situations across the world. He had one said, “What I enjoy most is capturing the human face of a breaking story. I shoot for the common man who wants to see and feel a story from a place where he can't be present himself." From Delhi to the world Born in Delhi in 1983, Siddiqui graduated in Economics from Jamia Millia Islamia and

got noticed because of his penchant for shooting evocatively even in conflict situations across the world. He had one said,

“What I enjoy most is capturing the human face of a breaking story. I shoot for the common man who wants to see and feel a story from a place where he can't be present himself."

From Delhi to the world

Born in Delhi in 1983, Siddiqui graduated in Economics from Jamia Millia Islamia and went on to pursue his Mass Communication from AJK Mass Communication Research Centre at Jamia in 2007. He began his career as a correspondent with Hindustan Times before joining TV Today in 2008 as a television news correspondent. After a little more than a year as a TV journalist he switched to photojournalism and joined Reuters in 2010 and was promoted as Chief Photographer in 2019.

Talking about his switch to photojournalism, Siddiqui told Forbes, “I felt, that when I was taking pictures, I had much more freedom over my content than when I was reporting. Also, TV was only reporting big news, not small stories affecting the interiors of the country. That’s why I moved to photojournalism in 2010.”

[caption id="attachment_5138" align="alignnone" width="976"] Indian photojournalist | Danish Siddiqui | Pulitzer Prize 2018 This image was shot by Danish during the migrant exodus during the lockdown in India; Photo Courtesy: Reuters[/caption]

While with Reuters, he covered the Battle of Mosul (2016-17), the 2015 Nepal earthquake, the Rohingya refugee crisis, 2019 Hong Kong protests, 2020 Delhi riots and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic among others. A photograph he captured during the Delhi riots was featured as one of the defining photographs of 2020 by Reuters. Another image depicting an activist firing a pistol at protesters as the police looked on became evidence of "the emboldening of Hindu nationalists" in the wake of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019.

Award-winning work

His 2018 work documenting the Rohingya refugee crisis won him the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography. The judging committee described the series as “shocking photographs that exposed the world to the violence Rohingya refugees faced in fleeing Myanmar".

[caption id="attachment_5139" align="alignnone" width="976"] Indian photojournalist | Danish Siddiqui | Pulitzer Prize 2018 This 2018 picture of the fleeing Rohingyas won Danish the Pulitzer Prize; Photo courtesy: Reuters[/caption]

Talking about his work in the series, Siddiqui had told Forbes, “As a photojournalist you want to show the story as it’s happening. But we didn’t have access to Myanmar, where all the action was. So, Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh, on the other side of the border, was my base and I was working in the villages and small towns around it. My motto was to show an entire story in one frame and, luckily, the two pictures I took in the award-winning series did just that.”

“In one of the pictures, you can see a Rohingya village getting burnt in the background and, in the other, a Rohingya woman lying on the beach and others jumping off the boat with their belongings. The second, in fact, was my favorite because it’s a challenge to get the whole story in one picture. One person in a frame can be anywhere; it is important to show why they were there.”

Family ties

Mumbai-based Siddiqui is survived by his wife and two young kids. In a report in The Indian Express, his father Mohammad Akhtar Siddiqui said, he spoke to his son “almost every night”. “The last time I spoke to him was the day before yesterday. He didn’t seem to be unsafe and he seemed very confident about his work,” he said.

Editor’s Take

Reporting from ground zero is never easy. Journalists put their lives at stake several times over to bring to light the real picture. Danish Siddiqui’s work covering various conflicts over the years and giving his audience a human angle to the face of conflict was remarkable. He painted a story with his pictures; not an easy task in face of hardship and danger. But he soldiered on, till the very end.

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Remembering the Indian-origin journalists who died covering someone else’s war

(July 23, 2021; 6pm) Their work is often unsung. But journalists frequently go above and beyond the call of duty to bring to readers and viewers facts about events as they occur. Sometimes, they risk their lives when reporting from the frontlines of a battle or calamity; it is just the nature of the job. As photojournalists they attempt to put a human face to global events, as reporters they paint evocative images with their words. However, ever so often they end up paying the price for working on the frontlines. Be it while reporting during a pandemic, or from the battle lines. Danish Siddiqui, Najmul Hasan and Priya Ramrakha were Indian-origin journalists who died young, covering war... somebody else’s war. To them though, it wasn’t about whose war it was, it was all about going that extra mile to ensure that such important events in history were recorded accurately; no matter the cost. Danish Siddiqui, died in Afghanistan (2021) [caption id="attachment_5869" align="aligncenter" width="310"] Danish Siddiqui[/caption] For the Reuters photojournalist it was another day of covering the Afghanistan-Taliban conflict in Spin Boldak, Kandahar. A fierce battle was on between the two forces when Danish Siddiqui was hit by shrapnel in the arm. The Afghan forces administered first aid and the Taliban retreated soon

an data-contrast="auto">Danish Siddiqui, died in Afghanistan (2021)

[caption id="attachment_5869" align="aligncenter" width="310"] Indian Journalists | Photojournalist | Died In Covering Someone Else War Danish Siddiqui[/caption]

For the Reuters photojournalist it was another day of covering the Afghanistan-Taliban conflict in Spin Boldak, Kandahar. A fierce battle was on between the two forces when Danish Siddiqui was hit by shrapnel in the arm. The Afghan forces administered first aid and the Taliban retreated soon after. Siddiqui went right back to work and was speaking to some store owners when the Taliban attacked once again, and that was when he fell.

The 38-year-old enjoyed capturing the human face of a breaking story as he wanted to shoot for the common man. A graduate of Jamia Millia Islamia in Delhi, he began his career as a correspondent for leading Indian media houses such as Hindustan Times and TV Today. Soon he realized that his real interest lay in photojournalism and he joined British news agency Reuters in 2010. Over the years, his work got noticed for the raw, human emotions he managed to capture through his lens. By 2019 he had been promoted as Chief Photographer. During his time with Reuters, he had covered the Battle of Mosul, the 2015 Nepal earthquake, the Rohingya refugee crisis, the 2019 Hong Kong protests, the 2020 Delhi riots and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, his series of work during the Rohingya crisis won him the Pulitzer Prize in 2018.

Committed to his profession, Siddiqui had no qualms in cutting short a vacation to report for work did the need ever arise. It is exactly what he’d done in 2017 when he was holidaying at his parents’ home in Delhi and heard about the spike in the migration of the Rohingyas. He took the next flight back to Mumbai, where he was based at the time, and caught the next flight to Bangladesh to be a part of the story.

Priya Ramrakha, died in Africa (1968)

[caption id="attachment_5867" align="aligncenter" width="190"] Indian Journalists | Photojournalist | Died In Covering Someone Else War Priya Ramrakha[/caption]

Photojournalist Priya Ramrakha was covering a war in Africa in 1968 for the international news magazines Time/Life when he was killed in crossfire between Nigerian soldiers and Biafran rebels. The 33-year-old was a Kenyan of Indian origin and was one of the first Africans to be given a contract by Life and Time magazines. Hailing from an activist family of journalists, he studied at the Art Center College of Los Angeles. In 1963 he returned to Africa to cover the independence movement in Kenya. He went on to cover several political and military movements across Africa.

On October 2, 1968 he was covering the Nigerian Civil War along with CBS correspondent Morley Safer when he was wounded in the cross fire. Even as Safer tried to carry him to safety, he breathed his last. A documentary film African Lens: The Story of Priya Ramrakha was released in 2007. Many of Ramrakha’s finest photographs which were believed to have been lost for 40 years were found buried in a Nairobi garage in 2018. They have now been published in a book Priya Ramrakha: The Recovered Archive. According to the Priya Ramrakha Foundation, the photojournalist chronicled the anti-colonial and post-colonial struggles across Africa. His images defied stereotype, censorship and editorial demand and captured key moments in Africa from the 1950s to the 1960s.

In an article in the New Yorker, Paul Theroux describes his meeting with Ramrakha and how he examined a large mamba (snake) through his camera lens. “He cocked his head, then he raised his camera and looked through the viewfinder. He did not snap a picture; he paced around the snake and continued to examine it through his camera lens, bringing it into focus, enlarging it, studying it. I realized then that that was how he saw the world—that the camera was an extension of his brain and his eye, and that it did not shy away from danger or death.”

Najmul Hasan, died in Iran (1983)

[caption id="attachment_5868" align="aligncenter" width="217"] Indian Journalists | Photojournalist | Died In Covering Someone Else War Najmul Hasan[/caption]

The 37-year-old Najmul Hasan had only been in Iran for three days when he was killed in a landmine explosion along with an Iranian government official. According to The Baron, the Reuters journalist was sent to cover the Iran-Iraq war in August 1983 (the fourth year of the war) when the Tehran correspondent was on leave. Three days after his arrival, he joined a party of journalists to tour the war front in western Iran. It was then that a landmine explosion cut short his life. He’d left behind a wife, Barbara and two children. His wife was then employed by Reuters as a bureau librarian.

Hasan was one of Reuters’ most seasoned correspondents in South Asia. He had earlier worked with Hindustan Times and was in the thick of every big story. He was equally adept at reporting news stories as he was at writing insightful and in-depth political analyses. He had covered stories about the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan, the presidential elections in Sri Lanka and also about the political upheavals in Nepal, Assam, and Bangladesh. His reports on the ethnic unrest in Assam in 1983 were picked up by the front pages of various leading newspapers across the world.

After his death, Reuters set up a fellowship at Oxford University in his memory to help further journalism in developing countries.

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