DIGIPUB Condemns Police Raids on The Wire Editors Based on Private Complaint

New Delhi: DIGIPUB India, a collective of independent digital news portals, on Monday condemned Delhi Police raids in the homes of the editors of The Wire (a member of DIGIPUB) based on a criminal defamation complaint filed by BJP’s IT cell chief, Amit  Malviya.

Read Also: Delhi Police Raids Homes of The Wire’s Editors 2 Days After BJP IT Cell Head Files Complaint

“A journalist or a media organisation that publishes a false report ought to be held accountable by its peers and civil society. But for the police carry out immediate and arbitrary search of editors’ homes, based entirely on a private complaint of defamation filed by a spokesperson of the ruling party smack of malafide intentions,” said a statement issued by the collective, of which NewsClick is also among the founding members along with 11 organisaions such as News Minute, Newslaundry, Article 14, Scroll, AltNews among others.

The statement also expressed serious concern over the danger of these searches “being used as an excuse to seize and duplicate confidential and sensitive data held by The Wire.”

The association also expressed concerns that the investigation could become “a tool to further worsen the already fraught state of journalism in India”.

https://twitter.com/nramind/status/1587087083465629696

The complaint was filed by Malviya just two days ago, following a first information report  registered by the Delhi Police accuses The Wire of cheating, forgery, defamation and criminal conspiracy referring to a series of stories on Meta, one of which had named him.

The veracity of the stories was denied by Meta, which alleged that the documents and emails used were “fabricated”. The Wire retracted the stories on October 23, admitting that it had failed in due diligence and filed a complaint against its key technology expert, Devesh Kumar, who allegedly “deceived” them.