[Commons-Law] Press group harasses blogger (Reporters Without Borders)

[Shivam Vij]

The Internet under surveillance
17 March 2005

INDIA

Press group harasses blogger

Reporters Without Borders has expressed its
concern to the head of the Times of India press
group about its lawyers' harassment of a
journalist running the weblog mediaah.com, which
has driven him to close it.

"Against a background in which bloggers are being
harassed and imprisoned in all four corners of
the world, this type of step on the part of a
media firm appears to us misplaced," the
worldwide press freedom group said in a 17 March
letter to the managing director of the Times of
India, Vineet Jain.

"Reporters Without Borders urges you to drop all
harassment or legal action against Pradyuman
Maheshwari, who runs the weblog Mediaah.com", the
letter said.

"We are contacting you as the result of a letter
drawn up by your company's lawyers instructing
this weblogger to delete 19 messages seen as
"defamatory" of the Times of India and its
management. On receipt of this letter and for
fear of a long and costly legal action being
launched against him, Pradyuman Maheshwari
decided to shut down his blog.

"After examining the offending articles, it seems
to us that this journalist was only exercising
his right to comment on and criticise your
group's commercial strategy and, more generally,
his right to freedom of expression.

"Moreover, as a media owner, you can easily
imagine that such a step could have harmful
consequences for free expression. It could
effectively dissuade other website managers from
handling business news, which they have every
right to do.

"Against a background in which bloggers are being
harassed and imprisoned in all four corners of
the world, this type of step on the part of a
media firm appears to us misplaced.

We are ready to discuss this case with you at your convenience".

A law firm engaged by the Times of India wrote to
Pradyuman Maheshwari on 5 March 2005, instructing
him to remove 19 articles posted online that it
considered "defamatory" and likely to "tarnish
the image" of the press group.

After receiving this letter, Maheshwari decided,
on 10 March, to close his weblog. "I think that I
would win a possible defamation case against the
Times of India. But I am only one journalist
against a powerful press group. If they act
against my blog on future occasions, sooner or
later, I will have to close it. I prefer to
anticipate any problems in advance and shut down
this publication," he told Reporters Without
Borders.

Documents relating to the case, including the
letter from the Times of India's lawyers, can be
read on http://mediaha.blogspot.com.

Indian Internet-users have launched an online petition to back Mediaah:
http://www.petitiononline.com/mediaahp/petition.html

------------------------------------------------------

Julien Pain
Bureau Internet et libertés / Internet Freedom desk
___________________________________________

Reporters sans frontières / Reporters Without Borders
TEL: ++ 33 (0) 1 44 83 84 71
FAX: ++ 33 (0) 1 45 23 11 51
internet at rsf.org
www.internet.rsf.org

Read our annual report on the state of online
freedom in more than 60 countries - The Internet
Under Surveillance :
http://www.rsf.org/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=433

Consultez notre rapport annuel "Internet sous
surveillance", qui détaille la situation de la
liberté d'expression sur le Net dans près de
soixante pays :
http://www.rsf.org/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=432
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