Who is Journalist Mandeep Punia whose media channel Gaon Savera twitter account withheld?

This week, the social media accounts of Gaon Savera, an independent news website, faced restrictions. On Tuesday, the website's Twitter account was blocked within India, while its Facebook page has been inaccessible since Monday.

X sent an email to Gaon Savera on Tuesday, August 22. CPJ reviewed the email and stated that the account had been withheld in response to a legal demand by the Indian government under the Information Technology Act. Punia said that neither Meta, which owns Facebook, nor the Indian government had sent a notice to Gaon Savera.

Twitter now X sent Gaon Savera an email saying "Your account is in violation of India's Information Technology Act, 2000," following correspondence received from the government of India.

Who is Journalist Mandeep Punia

Mandeep Punia, hailing from Haryana, came into prominence during the 2020-2021 Indian farmers' protest in India when he was apprehended by the Delhi Police. His detention led to his confinement in Tihar Jail for a duration of 14 days.

Early Life and Education Born in Jhajjar, Haryana, Mandeep Punia pursued his undergraduate studies at Panjab University, Chandigarh. He further honed his skills by undertaking a journalism program at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) from 2016 to 2017.

The police arrested him from the Singhu border point between the city and Haryana where a huge number of farmers have been protesting for months on Sunday 31 January 2021.

In the year 2018, Mandeep undertook a hunger strike against the IIMC administration demanding 'hostel'. The administration had to back down and provide a hostel for the upcoming batch after the hunger strike, which lasted for three days. Today, 42 children occupy a place to stay in that hostel.

Media Groups Demand Website Restoration

On Thursday, August 24, the Press Club of India, Indian Women Press Corps, Press Association, Delhi Union of Journalists, the Editors Guild of India, and Working News Cameraman Association issued a statement demanding the "immediate restoration" of access to the websites and social media handles of the news outlet. They also condemned the blocking of access to the social media handles of Gaon Savera, a news outlet.

CPJ was able to access the outlet’s social media pages from the United States.

Beh Lih Yi, CPJ's Asia program coordinator, said in Kuala Lumpur that the Indian government's arbitrary ban on Gaon Savera's social media accounts, within days of blocking The Kashmir Walla's website and social media accounts, marked a disturbing new trend of censorship in India. Yi urged the Indian government to stop targeting independent news publications and allow Gaon Savera to report without interference.

Gaon Savera’s Facebook page showed in a screenshot on August 23, 2023, says, “This content isn’t available at the moment.”

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