Censorship in the Majoritarian Democracy OF 21st Century India - Is the line of free speech breached?
Volume 4Issue III Year 2025
Dr. Asis Mallick
Assistant Professor , Department of Law , University of Calcutta
asis_mallick@yahoo.com
Akash Chatterjee
Research Scholar, University of Calcutta, West Bengal, India
akashkatha99@gmail.com
Table of Contents
Dr. Asis Mallick
Assistant Professor , Department of Law , University of Calcutta
asis_mallick@yahoo.com
Akash Chatterjee
Research Scholar, University of Calcutta, West Bengal, India
akashkatha99@gmail.com
Democracy- Censorship- Control- Narrative- Media- Majoritarian
1. [1] Priyanka Ghai & Arnind P. Bhanu, Censorship in India Vis-�-Vis Freedom of Speech: Comparison of the Extent of Censorship Laws in India and Abroad, 7 J. CRITICAL REVIEWS 436 (2020).
2. [2] Arend Lijphart, The Puzzle of Indian Democracy: A Consociational Interpretation, 90 AM. POL. SCI. REV. 258 (1996).
3. [3] Ramesh Subramanian, Media and Internet Censorship in India: A Study of its History and Political-Economy, 33 J. INT�L TECH. & INFO. MGMT. 1 (2024)
4. [4] Irfan Ahmad Mir, India�s Majoritarian Nationalism: Challenge to Pluralism and Inclusion, 4 E. ASIAN J. MULTIDISC. RSCH. 53 (2025)
5. [5] Ashutosh Varshney, The Triumph of Democracy and the Challenge of Ethnic Conflict, Conflict and Peace Studies (2009).
6. [6] Hudawi, Z. (2015). Religious intolerance as a challenge to pluralistic existence. India�s experience. Danubius, 33(2), 17�26.
7. [7] Christophe Jaffrelot, Modi�s India: Hindu Nationalism and the Rise of Ethnic Democracy 45-70 (2021).
8. [8] Steven Levitsky & Daniel Ziblatt, How Democracies Die 102-110 (2018).
9. [9] Suhas Palshikar, Majoritarianism and Democracy in India, 50 Econ. & Pol. Wkly. 52 (2015).
10. [10] Maya Mirchandani, Digital Hatred, Real Violence: Majoritarian Radicalisation and Social Media in India, ORF Occasional Paper No. 167 (Aug. 2018).
11. [11] Reporters Without Borders, World Press Freedom Index 2025, https://rsf.org/en/index (last visited Nov. 25, 2025).
12. [12] Bill Hayton, Freedom of Expression Under Threat in Southeast Asia, Chatham House (2021)
13. [13] Romesh Thappar v. State of Madras, AIR 1950 SC 124 (India).
14. [14] S. Rangarajan v. P. Jagjivan Ram, (1989) 2 S.C.C. 574 (India).
15. [15] United Nations, �Censorship Kills Scholarship� Expert Warns Third Committee, amid Global Crackdown on Academic Freedom, Press Release, May 29, 2020
16. [16] Software Freedom Law Center, Unlawful Expansion of Internet Shutdown Powers in India, https://sflc.in/unlawful-expansion-internet-shutdown-powers-india (last visited Nov. 25, 2025).
17. [17] Ramesh Subramanian, Media and Internet Censorship in India: A Study of its History and Political Economy, 2024 J. Info. Tech. & Intl Mgmt.
18. [18] Shreya Singhal v. Union of India, AIR 2015 SC 1523 (Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 167/2012), decided March 24, 2015
19. [19] B. R. Ambedkar�s warnings on liberty as the guarantee of democracy, Press Freedom in India: A Declining Trajectory, (Aug. 23, 2025)
20. [20] Bill Hayton, Freedom of Expression Under Threat in Southeast Asia, Chatham House (June 3, 2021), updated July 7, 2021.
21. [21] Bill, Freedom of Expression Under Threat in Southeast Asia, supra.
22. [22] Iyengar, R. (2017, May 3). A pre-Independence history of press freedom in India. The Indian Express. http://indianexpress.com/article/research/a-preindependence-history-of-press- freedom-in-india/
23. [23] Ruijgrok, K. (2021). Understanding India�s Troubling Rise in Internet Shutdowns. Ruijgrok, K. (2022). The authoritarian practice of issuing internet shutdowns in India: The Bharatiya Janata Party�s direct and indirect responsibility. Democratization, 29(4), 611� 633. https://doi.org/10.1080/13510347.2021.1993826
24. [24] Reporters Without Borders. (2012). Internet Enemies Report 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120323215225/http://march12.rsf.org/i/ Report_EnemiesoftheInternet_2012.pdf
25. [25] Kashyap, G. (2021, July 26). Section 66A: The Dead Law That Still Haunts India. Supreme Court Observer. https://www.scobserver.in/journal/section-66athe-dead-law-that-still- haunts-india/
26. [26] Anjali Merin Joseph, The Times of Jeopardizing Free Speech, 2024 Global Media J.
27. [27] Jenkins, C. (2012, November 29). Who is Shreya Singhal? Mint. https://www.livemint.com/Politics/PumX6XBqAeMAeNpspY1BLM/Who-is-Shreya- Singhal.html
28. [28] Shreya Singhal v. Union of India, AIR 2015 SC 1523 (Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 167/2012), decided March 24, 2015
29. [29] Madhav Khosla, Free Speech and the Internet in India: An Analysis of Shreya Singhal v. Union of India, 38 Comp. & Int�l L.J. India 123 (2016).
30. [30] Hansen, T. B. (2019). Democracy against the law: Reflections on India�s illiberal democracy. In A. P. Chatterji, T. B. Hansen, & C. Jaffrelot (Eds.), Majoritarian State: How Hindu Nationalism Is Changing India. C Hurst &Co Publishers Ltd.
31. [31] Lacina, B. (2014). How governments shape the risk of civil violence: India�s federal reorganization, 1950-56. American Journal of Political Science, 58(3),720�738.
32. [32] Majoritarianism, Populism Studies Glossary, Populism Studies Network (last visited Aug. 23, 2025)
33. [33] Upadhyay, S. P., & Robinson, R. (2012). Revisiting communalism and fundamentalism in India. Economic and Political Weekly, 47(36), 35�57.
34. [34] Michael Ignatieff, The Warrior�s Honor: Ethnic War and the Modern Conscience, 93-94 (1998).
35. [35] Priyanka Ghai & Arnind P. Bhanu, Censorship in India Vis-�-Vis Freedom of Speech: Comparison of the Extent of Censorship Laws in India and Abroad, 7 J. CRITICAL REVIEWS 436 (2020), https://ssrn.com/abstract=5215709.
36. [36] Maya Mirchandani, Digital Hatred, Real Violence: Majoritarian Radicalisation and Social Media in India, ORF Occasional Paper No. 167 (Aug. 2018).
37. [37] Ravi Sundaram, The Anti-National Label and India�s Intellectual Crisis, 56 Econ. & Pol. Wkly. 28 (2021).
38. [38] Maya,Supra
39. [39] Yadav, Y. (1999). Electoral politics in the time of change: India�s third electoral
40. system, 1989-99�. Economic and Political Weekly, 34(34-35), 2393�2399.
41.
References
1. [1] Priyanka Ghai & Arnind P. Bhanu, Censorship in India Vis-�-Vis Freedom of Speech: Comparison of the Extent of Censorship Laws in India and Abroad, 7 J. CRITICAL REVIEWS 436 (2020).
2. [2] Arend Lijphart, The Puzzle of Indian Democracy: A Consociational Interpretation, 90 AM. POL. SCI. REV. 258 (1996).
3. [3] Ramesh Subramanian, Media and Internet Censorship in India: A Study of its History and Political-Economy, 33 J. INT�L TECH. & INFO. MGMT. 1 (2024)
4. [4] Irfan Ahmad Mir, India�s Majoritarian Nationalism: Challenge to Pluralism and Inclusion, 4 E. ASIAN J. MULTIDISC. RSCH. 53 (2025)
5. [5] Ashutosh Varshney, The Triumph of Democracy and the Challenge of Ethnic Conflict, Conflict and Peace Studies (2009).
6. [6] Hudawi, Z. (2015). Religious intolerance as a challenge to pluralistic existence. India�s experience. Danubius, 33(2), 17�26.
7. [7] Christophe Jaffrelot, Modi�s India: Hindu Nationalism and the Rise of Ethnic Democracy 45-70 (2021).
8. [8] Steven Levitsky & Daniel Ziblatt, How Democracies Die 102-110 (2018).
9. [9] Suhas Palshikar, Majoritarianism and Democracy in India, 50 Econ. & Pol. Wkly. 52 (2015).
10. [10] Maya Mirchandani, Digital Hatred, Real Violence: Majoritarian Radicalisation and Social Media in India, ORF Occasional Paper No. 167 (Aug. 2018).
11. [11] Reporters Without Borders, World Press Freedom Index 2025, https://rsf.org/en/index (last visited Nov. 25, 2025).
12. [12] Bill Hayton, Freedom of Expression Under Threat in Southeast Asia, Chatham House (2021)
13. [13] Romesh Thappar v. State of Madras, AIR 1950 SC 124 (India).
14. [14] S. Rangarajan v. P. Jagjivan Ram, (1989) 2 S.C.C. 574 (India).
15. [15] United Nations, �Censorship Kills Scholarship� Expert Warns Third Committee, amid Global Crackdown on Academic Freedom, Press Release, May 29, 2020
16. [16] Software Freedom Law Center, Unlawful Expansion of Internet Shutdown Powers in India, https://sflc.in/unlawful-expansion-internet-shutdown-powers-india (last visited Nov. 25, 2025).
17. [17] Ramesh Subramanian, Media and Internet Censorship in India: A Study of its History and Political Economy, 2024 J. Info. Tech. & Intl Mgmt.
18. [18] Shreya Singhal v. Union of India, AIR 2015 SC 1523 (Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 167/2012), decided March 24, 2015
19. [19] B. R. Ambedkar�s warnings on liberty as the guarantee of democracy, Press Freedom in India: A Declining Trajectory, (Aug. 23, 2025)
20. [20] Bill Hayton, Freedom of Expression Under Threat in Southeast Asia, Chatham House (June 3, 2021), updated July 7, 2021.
21. [21] Bill, Freedom of Expression Under Threat in Southeast Asia, supra.
22. [22] Iyengar, R. (2017, May 3). A pre-Independence history of press freedom in India. The Indian Express. http://indianexpress.com/article/research/a-preindependence-history-of-press- freedom-in-india/
23. [23] Ruijgrok, K. (2021). Understanding India�s Troubling Rise in Internet Shutdowns. Ruijgrok, K. (2022). The authoritarian practice of issuing internet shutdowns in India: The Bharatiya Janata Party�s direct and indirect responsibility. Democratization, 29(4), 611� 633. https://doi.org/10.1080/13510347.2021.1993826
24. [24] Reporters Without Borders. (2012). Internet Enemies Report 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120323215225/http://march12.rsf.org/i/ Report_EnemiesoftheInternet_2012.pdf
25. [25] Kashyap, G. (2021, July 26). Section 66A: The Dead Law That Still Haunts India. Supreme Court Observer. https://www.scobserver.in/journal/section-66athe-dead-law-that-still- haunts-india/
26. [26] Anjali Merin Joseph, The Times of Jeopardizing Free Speech, 2024 Global Media J.
27. [27] Jenkins, C. (2012, November 29). Who is Shreya Singhal? Mint. https://www.livemint.com/Politics/PumX6XBqAeMAeNpspY1BLM/Who-is-Shreya- Singhal.html
28. [28] Shreya Singhal v. Union of India, AIR 2015 SC 1523 (Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 167/2012), decided March 24, 2015
29. [29] Madhav Khosla, Free Speech and the Internet in India: An Analysis of Shreya Singhal v. Union of India, 38 Comp. & Int�l L.J. India 123 (2016).
30. [30] Hansen, T. B. (2019). Democracy against the law: Reflections on India�s illiberal democracy. In A. P. Chatterji, T. B. Hansen, & C. Jaffrelot (Eds.), Majoritarian State: How Hindu Nationalism Is Changing India. C Hurst &Co Publishers Ltd.
31. [31] Lacina, B. (2014). How governments shape the risk of civil violence: India�s federal reorganization, 1950-56. American Journal of Political Science, 58(3),720�738.
32. [32] Majoritarianism, Populism Studies Glossary, Populism Studies Network (last visited Aug. 23, 2025)
33. [33] Upadhyay, S. P., & Robinson, R. (2012). Revisiting communalism and fundamentalism in India. Economic and Political Weekly, 47(36), 35�57.
34. [34] Michael Ignatieff, The Warrior�s Honor: Ethnic War and the Modern Conscience, 93-94 (1998).
35. [35] Priyanka Ghai & Arnind P. Bhanu, Censorship in India Vis-�-Vis Freedom of Speech: Comparison of the Extent of Censorship Laws in India and Abroad, 7 J. CRITICAL REVIEWS 436 (2020), https://ssrn.com/abstract=5215709.
36. [36] Maya Mirchandani, Digital Hatred, Real Violence: Majoritarian Radicalisation and Social Media in India, ORF Occasional Paper No. 167 (Aug. 2018).
37. [37] Ravi Sundaram, The Anti-National Label and India�s Intellectual Crisis, 56 Econ. & Pol. Wkly. 28 (2021).
38. [38] Maya,Supra
39. [39] Yadav, Y. (1999). Electoral politics in the time of change: India�s third electoral
40. system, 1989-99�. Economic and Political Weekly, 34(34-35), 2393�2399.
41.