Explore Business Standard
The Wire
The Editors Guild of India on Wednesday said it was extremely disturbed by the manner in which the Delhi Police carried out searches and seizures at the homes of the editors of The Wire as well as their office and the newsroom. "The haste with which the police searches were carried out at multiple locations, is excessive and disproportionate, and in the manner of a fishing and roving enquiry," the Guild said in a statement here. The Guild also urged the Delhi Police to be objective and impartial in investigating all the complaints filed in this matter, and not use intimidatory tactics in disregard of democratic principles. The Delhi Police was acting on a complaint of criminal defamation filed by BJP functionary Amit Malviya against 'The Wire'. The Guild said as per a statement published by The Wire, the police personnel seized phones, computers, and iPads from homes of the journalists, as well as from the office, and no hash value of the digital devices was given in spite of reque
Media associations on Tuesday condemned searches carried out by the Delhi Police at the offices of news portal The Wire and the houses of its editors on the basis of a complaint filed by BJP leader Amit Malviya. In a joint statement, seven media bodies including Press Association, Press Club of India and Digipub News India Foundation said the manner in which the Delhi Police has acted on the complaint of a BJP spokesperson "smacks of sheer vendetta". "It is surprising that even after the news portal issued a detailed retraction for its editorial lapses, putting out the same in the public domain, the Delhi Police, based on the complaint of the BJP leader which includes a bevy of charges including criminal clauses under the IPC, registered an FIR and chose to proceed (with) investigating the matter with uncharacteristic promptness," the statement said. Delhi Union of Journalists, Working News Cameraman Association, Indian Journalists Union and Kerala Union of Working Journalists are .
The Editors Guild of India on Friday said it was "disturbed" by the recent turn of events with respect to reports published by news portal 'The Wire' on Meta and urged newsrooms to "resist the temptation of moving fast on sensitive stories". The statement comes after The Wire retracted a series of its investigative reports claiming Meta, the parent company of social media giants -- WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram -- had accorded special privileges to BJP IT Cell chief Amit Malviya that enabled him to get posts removed from its platforms. The Guild also withdrew references it had made in its earlier statement to reports carried by The Wire on an app called Tek Fog after the news portal removed the said stories following "serious questions on the veracity of their reporting". "The Guild is also disturbed by the recent turn of events with respect to the reports published by the Wire on Meta. The Guild is conscious of and emphasises the need for extra care in investigative journalism,
BJP's IT department head Amit Malviya on Thursday said he will file criminal and civil proceedings against 'The Wire', as he accused the news portal of using "forged documents with a view to malign and tarnish" his reputation. The Wire in a series of news reports, now retracted, had alleged that Meta, the parent company of social media giants -- WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram -- has accorded special privileges to Malviya that enable him to get posts removed from its platforms. The reports had insinuated that the BJP leader was behind removal of some posts from Instagram. "After consultation with my lawyers and seeking their advise, I have decided to file criminal and civil proceedings against 'The Wire.' Not only will I be setting the criminal process in motion but I will also sue them in civil court seeking damages as they forged documents with a view to malign and tarnish my reputation," Malviya said in a statement. Under scrutiny, including from some experts, over the reports,