On World Press Freedom Day, celebrated annually on May 3, the world pauses to honor the vital role of a free and independent media in sustaining democracy. Yet, in India, the self-proclaimed “world’s largest democracy,” this cornerstone is crumbling.
The decline of press freedom, driven by an insidious political-corporate nexus, has stifled dissent, silenced independent voices, and eroded the public’s right to truth. India’s media, once a vibrant force for accountability, is increasingly shackled by economic pressures, political intimidation, and concentrated ownership. How can a nation that prides itself on democratic ideals reconcile with a media landscape that grows ever more subservient to power?
India’s slide in press freedom rankings is stark. In the 2024 World Press Freedom Index, published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), India ranked 159 out of 180 countries, a marginal improvement from 161 in 2023 but a precipitous fall from 140 in 2014, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government took office. RSF notes that India’s media operates in an “unofficial state of emergency,” marked by violence against journalists, politically partisan outlets, and concentrated ownership.
The report highlights a “spectacular rapprochement” between Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and media-owning conglomerates, creating a landscape where critical journalism is branded as “anti-national.” Scores across political, economic, legal, and sociocultural indicators have worsened, with only the security indicator showing slight improvement. Since January 2024, nine journalists and one media worker have been detained, underscoring the perilous environment.
Indian media is now mostly owned by corporates. In 2022, the Adani Group, led by billionaire Gautam Adani—a close ally of Modi—acquired NDTV, one of India’s last bastions of independent journalism, through a hostile takeover. NDTV’s editorial stance, once critical of the government, has since softened.
Somdeep Sen, a political scientist at Roskilde University, told NPR in 2023 that Adani’s wealth, bolstered by his ties to Modi, fuels such acquisitions, ensuring media narratives serve political ends. The takeover sparked protests, with opposition Congress party members in February 2023 displaying placards linking Adani and Modi, demanding probes into alleged fraud—a call drowned out by compliant media.
This nexus extends beyond ownership to financial coercion. The Indian government, a major source of advertising revenue, wields billions in public funds to influence coverage. RSF reports that both central and state governments pressure media outlets to censor content by leveraging this funding, particularly impacting smaller publications. In 2023, the government introduced the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, establishing a fact-checking unit to flag “fake” or “misleading” content.
Critics, including veteran journalist N. Ram, argue this grants the state sweeping powers to control narratives, especially on digital platforms where independent journalists have sought refuge amid print media’s decline. Ram, a petitioner in a Supreme Court case against Pegasus spyware surveillance, revealed in October 2024 that the government “almost certainly” deployed military-grade spyware to target journalists, politicians, and activists, a gross violation of democratic norms.
Journalists face not only economic and digital repression but also physical danger. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) documented 19 journalist murders related to their work between 2014 and 2024, compared to 11 in the previous decade. In January 2025, freelance journalist Mukesh Chandrakar was found murdered in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district after reporting on alleged corruption in a road construction project. His body, discovered in a septic tank at a contractor’s residence, underscored the risks faced by investigative reporters in remote areas.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and CPJ condemned the killing, urging stronger protections, yet accountability remains elusive. RSF reported 13 journalists behind bars in 2022, with 55 arrested or threatened for COVID-19 coverage during the pandemic. In Kashmir, where press freedom has plummeted since the 2019 revocation of semi-autonomy, journalists are caught between state and non-state actors, facing sedition and terror charges.
The misuse of laws exacerbates this crisis. Sedition and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) are routinely weaponized to silence dissent. Arfa Khanam Sherwani, a journalist with The Wire, told The Mooknayak in 2023 that 90% of mainstream media has become “part of the government’s propaganda,” while independent journalists face imprisonment threats and financial strangulation.
The 2017 murder of Gauri Lankesh, a fierce critic of Hindu nationalism, remains a chilling reminder of the consequences of dissent. Daniel Bastard, RSF’s Asia-Pacific director, told DW in 2022 that Modi’s narrative paints critical journalists as “intermediaries polluting his relationship with his devotees,” fostering a climate where they are deemed “anti-India.”
Corporate influence compounds these political pressures. India’s media market, one of the world’s largest with over 100,000 newspapers and 400 news channels, is increasingly controlled by a few conglomerates. The absence of cross-media ownership regulations allows politically aligned tycoons to dominate. The 2023 raid on NewsClick, a left-leaning outlet, saw police confiscate materials under allegations of Chinese funding, a move critics called an attack on independent media.
Kunal Majumder, CPJ’s India representative, told CNN in 2024 that invoking terror laws to criminalize journalists signals “deep authoritarian rule.” Meanwhile, self-censorship pervades newsrooms, driven by fear of repercussions. The IFJ’s 2023-2024 South Asia Press Freedom Report noted that journalists face wage threats, job losses, and precarious conditions, further undermining their independence.
The public’s indifference to this decline is equally troubling. RSF’s 2022 report lamented the silence of civil society, political parties, and academia, noting that India’s celebrated media diversity has not translated into independence. Political commentator Manindra Thakur told Frontline in 2023 that the media’s reliance on state and corporate resources, coupled with journalists’ job insecurity, encourages compromised reporting. He called for a publicly funded model like the BBC to restore autonomy, a proposal echoed by others but ignored by policymakers.
India’s press freedom crisis raises a profound question: Can a democracy thrive when its media is gagged by the very forces it is meant to hold accountable? The evidence is damning—takeovers like NDTV’s, murders like Chandrakar’s, and laws like the UAPA reveal a system designed to suppress. The slight uptick in India’s 2024 ranking owes more to other countries’ declines than to domestic progress.
As N. Ram noted in April 2025, recent electoral setbacks for Modi have allowed some independent voices to emerge, but the structural rot persists. Without robust legal protections, transparent ownership, and a civil society willing to fight for its media, India risks sliding further into authoritarianism. On this Press Freedom Day, the nation must confront an uncomfortable truth: a democracy without a free press is a democracy in name only.