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India unequipped to deal with cyber crime, says Meghalaya editor Patricia Mary Mukhim

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Editor of Shillong Times and Padma Shri award winner Patricia Mary Mukhim says she doesn’t watch the news today because she doesn’t like to see ‘shouting matches’.

New Delhi: Speaking with ThePrint’s associate editor Ruhi Tewari at the sixth edition of Democracy Wall, Mukhim said that the state of media today paints “a pretty dismal picture.” Corporatisation, government pressure, political funding, and trolls have severely restricted free speech and brave reporting, said Mukhim, an eminent journalist herself.

“You have to walk the thin line between not toeing the line of the government and trying to be the voice of the people. But maybe it’s not as tough (here) as it is for people based in Delhi, where the pressure is very high. These people are actually living in a sort of furnace, so maybe if they don’t toe the line, they’ll get burnt,” she said.

On politicians ‘buying’ news

Mukhim was asked a question on the ability of media to remain unbiased and trustworthy in an era where political parties were “spending enormous amounts to control news organisations.”

“It’s very important that free speech is guarded from all undue influences, but that’s not possible if media is owned by politicians. They are power hoarders, and constantly in the limelight. So if they own the media, then they’re aborting free speech,” she said.

Mukhim however did admit that Shillong Times, as well as most of the media in Assam, is also owned by politicians.

“I think he knows that we want a liberal space, and if we don’t get it, we’ll walk out,” she added.

On social media and death threats

Recently, two masked men on a bike threw a petrol bomb at Patricia Mukhim’s bedroom window. Mukhim said she has accepted these risks as part of the profession she signed up to do.

“Physically this is something regrettable, but I’ve spent a lot of time walking in and out of courts… as people keep filing defamation cases. These are intimidation tactics, but it does get difficult to fight back when the threats are physical,” she answered when asked on the environment of fear she continues to work in.

Mukhim said that the unregulated character of social media allowed people to get away with abuse in a country still “unequipped to deal with cyber crime.”

The editor has herself bore the brunt of trolling on social media.

“This woman should die. She’s a puppet of the Indian government,” commented a man on her Facebook page. Mukhim filed an FIR against him but, along with other women, continues to be harassed and intimidated online.

However, Mukhim says she usually does not withdraw from debates, but challenges trolls on their arguments.

“Ideology is toxic, and traps people in their own way of thinking. I don’t have any political leanings — left, right, or centre — which allows me to criticise every party,” she advised youth who aspire to become journalists.

She hopes young vibrant minds will “step into where it matters,” and make the necessary change.

Democracy Wall is a free-speech campus initiative, the sixth edition of which was held at North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong. Meghalaya politician James K. Sangma, rapper Kehko Thiamkho, actor Nimrat Kaur, ‘constitutor’ Meghnad, comedian Abhineet Mishra, founder of Youth Ki Awaaz Anshul Tewari, and Patricia Mukhim, editor of Shillong Times interacted with the audience at the event.

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1 COMMENT

  1. Lol her own newspaper The Shillong Times published biased news recently that leads to communal riots in Shillong recently. The irony..???

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