Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemned India on Friday for its “alarming” censorship of news media amid escalating military tensions with Pakistan.

Head of the RSF South Asia desk Célia Mercier stated:

At a time of extreme military tensions with Pakistan, blocking online media and social media accounts is a dramatic violation of the right to reliable information. What’s more, disinformation is proliferating in India — including fake images and content generated by artificial intelligence — and restricting access to reliable news sources only amplifies this information chaos.

The statement followed the arrest of freelance journalist Hilal Mir on Monday after Indian police claimed Mir was “spreading anti-national content” by criticizing the government’s policies on the Indian-administered region of Kashmir. The Indian government also ordered X (formerly Twitter) to block more than 8,000 accounts, including accounts of international news organizations. The government additionally restricted access to 16 Pakistani YouTube channels, including prominent news outlets such as Dawn News.

One Indian news outlet, The Wire, also announced that its portal was blocked by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology after the outlet posted an article based on a CNN report about India’s Rafale fighter jet. Although the government later unblocked the website, The Wire has announced its intention to pursue a legal challenge, citing a violation of press freedom.

The wave of crackdowns on press freedom comes after the massacre of 26 civilians in India-administered Kashmir on April 22. The censorship has since escalated following India’s announcement of Operation Sindoor, an Indian military offensive against Pakistan launched early on May 7 in response to Pakistan’s alleged continued harboring of terrorists.

This aligns with the annual South Asia Press Freedom Report 2024-2025, entitled “Frontline Democracy: Media Amid Political Churn,” which highlighted the persistent and deepening challenges for journalists and media organizations in India. In particular, the report stated:

Every authoritarian effort is being made to crush those who seek to hold power to account—crackdowns on media houses; surveillance, intimidation and harassment of journalists; filing of police cases; arbitrary detentions; and the unleashing of raids by the Income Tax Department, and the Enforcement Directorate that oversees financial crimes.

The report demonstrated that despite India’s slight rise in RSF’s 2025 World Press Freedom Index, the safety and independence of journalists remain threatened in the country.