It's not the foreign media

"In the past, as the adage had it, a story from the subcontinent wasn't newsworthy unless it involved the death of one American, or ten Englishmen, or a thousand Indians." But now that India's economy has improved, the "media elites in places such as New York, London and Doha" are presenting a distorted picture of India, which is spread globally by social media, and harms our democracy and diplomacy. India should pass a law seeking the "right to reply" as in Singapore, wrote Prof Rahul Sagar. The problem with replying is that people are reminded of the original criticism, or are informed of it, if they had missed it in the first place. So, India applies the guillotine. "In 2024, governments across the world imposed a staggering 296 internet shutdowns in 54 countries," of which, "India, which has topped the global list for six consecutive years, recorded 84 internet shutdowns in 2024," second only to military junta of Myanmar. India Today. The government regularly orders social media companies to delete posts it does not like. Meta received thousands of removal orders in 2022, while X received 53,000 orders in 2022. In total, "By 2024, the number grew to 100,000 requests every six months," and "This means every 3 out of 10 posts by India were dropped, surpassing other democracies." Bhaskar English. A foreign organisation, Freedom House rated India as partly free in Internet freedom with 50 out of 100. In August 2025, "In response to a parliament question about the decline in India's press freedom rankings and cases of violence and intimidation of journalists, the Union government has stated that "India has a vibrant press and media ecosystem, which does not need validation from foreign organisations." The Wire. Not foreign, we Indians know that the entire media has been reduced to "Godi Media", meaning 'lapdog media'. wikipedia. Cinema is not exempt. "Indian cinema has seen two major changes post 2014 - a rise in propaganda film supporting the ruling BJP's ideology, and severe censorship or banning of movies that are critical of the BJP-led government and groups like the RSS, or for 'hurting Hindu religious sentiments'." DH. In 2023, Supreme Court Justice KM Joseph opined, "Hinduism is not a religion but a way of life...Hinduism is a way of life and there is no bigotry in Hinduism." TBS. If Hinduism is not a religion, how is it possible to hurt "Hindu religious sentiment"?  "A 24-year-old MBA student from Tripura died after being stabbed during a racist attack in Dehradun." Anjel Chakma was accused of being Chinese by a hate mob even though he told them he is Indian. News18. Four days ago, 33-year old Sheikh Makarand Muhammad was lynched by cow vigilantes in Odisha after being forced to chant a religious slogan. TOI. In December 2025, "Days after multiple incidents of violence across the nation during Christmas, the influential Catholic Church in Kerala ...published a sharp critique of the BJP government at the center and Prime Minister Narendra Modi." The Print. A few days ago, US President Donald Trump launched air strikes against Islamic militants in Nigeria for killing Christians, and warned of more to come. BBC. Prof Sagar may have got it the other way round. It may not be the foreign media which is influencing anti-Indian sentiment, but foreign governments which are communicating their opinions to the media. There are 159 embassies/ high commissions in Delhi (wikipedia) which regularly send classified reports to their parent governments. What is very problematic is that we don't know what they are writing. It certainly will not be validation. Beware.