Tag: BBC

On BBC searches, US invokes freedom of press

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Washington: The US has reaffirmed its conviction that “free press strengthens democracy” as a general rule without seeking to impose its views directly on the searches of BBC offices by income tax authorities in Delhi and Mumbai.
“I would need to refer you to Indian authorities for the details of this search,” State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said in a response to a question at the daily press briefing.
” Beyond this discrete action, what I’ll say more broadly is the general point that I’ve consistently made in this context, but in a universal context as well: We support the importance of free press around the world. We continue to highlight the importance of freedom of expression and freedom of religion or belief as human rights that contribute to strengthening democracies around the world. It has strengthened this democracy here in this country; it has strengthened India’s democracy. These universal rights are the bedrock of democracies around the world.”
Pressed further, Price said, “We’re aware of the facts of these searches, but I’m just not in a position to offer a judgement.”
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#BBC #searches #invokes #freedom #press
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 15, 2023
UK government ‘closely monitoring’ as BBC tax ‘enquiries’ continue in India

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London: The UK government is “closely monitoring” the situation as the BBC said some of its staff have been asked to remain at their Delhi and Mumbai offices to cooperate with the “ongoing enquiries” of the Income Tax (I-T) authorities on Tuesday.
In New Delhi and Mumbai, officials said the surveys were being carried out to investigate issues related to international taxation and transfer pricing of BBC subsidiary companies, and alleged that the broadcaster was served with notices in the past, but was “defiant and non-compliant” and had significantly diverted its profits.
While there has been no official statement related to the action, British government sources said they are “closely monitoring reports of tax surveys conducted at the offices of the BBC in India”.
The action comes weeks after the UK-headquartered public broadcaster aired a controversial two-part documentary in the UK, India: The Modi Question’, referencing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the 2002 Gujarat riots.
“The Income Tax Authorities remain at the BBC offices in New Delhi and Mumbai. Many staff have now left the building, but some have been asked to remain and are continuing to cooperate with the ongoing enquiries,” a BBC spokesperson said in a statement.
“We are supporting our staff during this time and continue to hope to have this situation resolved as soon as possible. Our output and journalism continues as normal and we are committed to serving our audiences in India,” the spokesperson said.
There was shock as the news of the action unfolded in the UK early on Tuesday morning and a broad consensus has been that the action was linked to the controversial BBC documentary on Prime Minister Modi aired in the UK last month.
“Everyone’s shocked and no one is fooled that today’s tax survey, as it’s being called, is a retaliation to the recent BBC documentary India: The Modi Question’,” said Dr Mukulika Banerjee, a leading author and academic at the London School of Economics (LSE).

“The BBC is an independent public broadcaster so if it puts out a documentary, it is not acting at the behest of the British government. In fact, BBC journalists routinely grill the British PM and all elected officials holding them accountable for their actions. The word independent’ means just that,” she said.
“The Indian government has appointed India as the Mother of Democracy’ during its year of the G20 Presidency and plastered posters across every inch of the country proclaiming that. It should know then that one of the basic principles of being a democracy is to recognise that press freedom is an essential central pillar of a functioning democracy. They really need to understand that this is what press freedom looks like. And stop its shameful harassment of the BBC in Delhi and Mumbai,” she added.
The South Asia Solidarity Group, a human rights organisation based in the UK, dubbed it a “blatantly vindictive move”.
“In the wake of the government’s ban on sharing extracts or screening the documentary, this raid makes it clear that the Modi government will attack all those who criticise Narendra Modi, the BJP and those close to them,” said Mukti Shah, spokesperson for the group.
Meanwhile, there were others such as the Global Hindu Federation which expressed support for the action.
“As a ‘coloniser collaborator’ the BBC has been living rent free in our heads, and no doubt financial irregularities abound in their ongoing occupation of the India media space,” said the federation’s chair Satish Sharma.
Last month, the Indian government had branded the two-part series on Prime Minister Modi a “propaganda piece”, designed to push a particular “discredited narrative”.
“The bias, lack of objectivity and continuing colonial mindset is blatantly visible,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said at the time it was aired in the UK last month.
The documentary also triggered coordinated Indian diaspora protests at BBC offices across different UK cities at the end of last month.
The UK government responded in the House of Commons to the protests by insisting the BBC as a media organisation was “independent in its outlet” and reiterating its commitment to enhance ties with India.
“We recognise how this portrayal of the Indian government has played out in India. I made it clear that the BBC is independent in its output, that the UK regards India as an incredibly important international partner and that we will be investing heavily in that relationship in the coming decades,” UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said earlier this month.
His remarks were later echoed by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s official spokesperson in Downing Street: “The BBC is independent in its output and we would stress that we continue to regard India as an incredibly important international partner.
“We will be investing heavily in our relationship with India over the coming decades and we’re confident it will only go from strength to strength.”
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#government #closely #monitoring #BBC #tax #enquiries #continue #India
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 15, 2023
Kavitha takes dig at Centre over I-T surveys on BBC offices

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Hyderabad: Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLC K Kavitha on Tuesday took an apparent jibe at the Centre over the I-T survey conducted at BBC offices, located in Delhi, Mumbai, just weeks after the UK-based broadcaster aired a documentary on PM Modi.
Taking to Twitter, Telangana CM’s daughter said, “The entire ruling Government defends against probe amidst allegation on one business house and the same Government sends its agencies behind those who show the truth! Why?”
The entire ruling Govt defends against probe amidst allegation on one business house & the same Govt sends its agencies behind those who show the truth ! Why? #BBC
— Kavitha Kalvakuntla (@RaoKavitha) February 14, 2023
The I-T surveys conducted at BBC offices have drawn sharp reactions from several opposition leaders, including from J-K former CM Farooq Abdullah.
While reacting to the episode, Abdullah said, “Democracy is already under threat here and media is being suppressed and this raid on BBC is an addition to this.”
The former Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president Uttam Kumar Reddy said that this operation, carried out by officials of the I-T department, will malign the country’s image throughout the world.
Earlier this morning, Income Tax officials arrived at BBC offices located at the national capital’s KG Marg for the survey. The British broadcaster’s office at Kalina Santacruz in Mumbai was also surveyed, sources said adding that the survey was limited to the business premises of BBC only.
According to reports, a team of IT officials arrived at the BBC Studios office in Kalina Santacruz around 11.30 am today and a survey has been going on since then. There is no I-T activity at the BBC News office at Linking Road Bandra West.
It is learnt that the tax officials are conducting verification of certain account documents in the finance department of the BBC offices.

During the investigation, the mobile phones of all the employees present in the BBC office were taken away by the Income Tax team. The data of the computer kept in the accounts and finance department was also scanned. According to sources, officials said the devices will be returned to their owners after taking a backup.
However, as the survey was underway, the British public broadcaster BBC News released a statement, saying that it is cooperating with the Income Tax department, which is conducting a survey at its offices in New Delhi and Mumbai.
“The Income Tax Authorities are currently at the BBC offices in New Delhi and Mumbai and we are fully cooperating,” the BBC News Press Team said in a statement.
The searches come weeks after the BBC released a documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi – ‘India: The Modi Question,” which caused controversy on January 21. The Centre had issued directions for blocking multiple YouTube videos and Twitter posts sharing links to the controversial BBC documentary on PM Modi. The Supreme Court had on February 3 directed the central government to produce original records relating to its decision to block the BBC documentary.

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#Kavitha #takes #dig #Centre #surveys #BBC #offices
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 15, 2023
Income tax survey at BBC office to continue till Wednesday

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New Delhi: The ‘survey’ being conducted by the Income Tax (I-T) Department at BBC’s Delhi and Mumbai offices since Tuesday morning are expected to continue through the night till Wednesday morning, sources aware of the developments said.
No official reaction on the development has come from the I-T department or the Finance Ministry till the filing of this report.
I-T officials are said to have seized phones and laptops from the staffers in the broadcaster’s offices, according to reports.
The ‘survey’ came weeks after a two-part documentary by the BBC on the 2002 Gujarat riots had created furore across the country.
As per reports, the I-T department officials are learnt to be probing tax details of the UK’s national broadcaster pertaining to the past few years.
“The income tax authorities are currently at the BBC offices in New Delhi and Mumbai and we are fully cooperating. We hope to have this situation resolved as soon as possible,” the BBC had tweeted on Tuesday afternoon.
Employees were allowed to leave six hours after the searches began, only after their laptops had been scanned, reports quoting sources said.

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#Income #tax #survey #BBC #office #continue #Wednesday
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 14, 2023
Centre threatening fourth pillar of democracy by raiding BBC: AAP

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New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Central government of threatening the fourth pillar of democracy by raiding the BBC.
Lashing out at the government over its actions, AAP leader Atishi said: “The BJP wants to suppress every word spoken or shown against the government. The Income Tax Raid on the BBC is an attack on the democracy of India. Media is the most important pillar of democracy, today the BJP Central government is trying to break the fourth pillar of democracy.”
Addressing the media, she said that this is a message to the entire media fraternity that if they show anything against the BJP and the PM, they will meet the same fate. Raising questions about the Centre’s intentions behind the action, she said: “BJP banned the documentary made by BBC to prevent the country from seeing these allegations unfold. India is at number 150 out of 180 countries in the Global Index of Press Freedom, today the whole world is questioning India’s democratic status.”
“Why has the BBC been raided? Because today, not only India but the entire world is discussing the BBC documentary. First of all, the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled Central government got that documentary banned and removed from websites and social media so that no one in India is able to watch it. This was the first act of censorship by the BJP-ruled central government after the BBC’s documentary on Narendra Modi.”
And with today’s income tax raid, she alleged, that the BJP-led central government “is threatening all of us and asserting that no one, not even a globally famous organisation like the BBC can say, write, or show anything that is critical of their administration”.
Atishi asked the BJP to explain what image of India does it want to present to the whole world.
“History is witness that you can suppress the voice of the people for some time but you cannot suppress the voice of every person forever,” she said, appealing to the BJP to not intimidate the media like this, and stop tarnishing India’s image in front of the world.

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#Centre #threatening #fourth #pillar #democracy #raiding #BBC #AAP
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 14, 2023
Press Club of India condemns I-T surveys at BBC office in Delhi, Mumbai

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New Delhi: The Press Club of India (PCI) has strongly condemned the income tax “surveys” at the office of the BBC in Delhi and Mumbai on Tuesday.
In a statement, PCI said, “The ‘surveys’ are part of a series of attacks on the media by government agencies in recent times, especially against those sections of the media that the government perceives is hostile to it and critical of the ruling establishment.
“It is deeply unfortunate as this latest instance appears to be a clear cut case of vendetta, coming within weeks of a documentary aired by the BBC on the Gujarat riots.”
The PCI said that the documentary, which appears to be the immediate provocation for the raids, has already been banned on YouTube and other social media platforms.
“We are deeply concerned and distressed that such an action on an international broadcasting network will damage the reputation and image of India as the largest democracy in the world. We appeal to the government to restrain its agencies from misusing their powers in order to intimidate the media and put curbs on the freedom of the press,” the statement read.
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#Press #Club #India #condemns #surveys #BBC #office #Delhi #Mumbai

( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 14, 2023
Operations at BBC offices ‘affront to freedom of expression’”: Global watchdogs

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New York: Global media watchdogs and human rights bodies on Tuesday criticised the Indian government’s income tax survey operations at the BBC’s offices in New Delhi and Mumbai, saying the action “smacks of intimidation” and was a “blatant affront” to freedom of expression.
The Income Tax officials described the action as part of an investigation into alleged tax evasion.
Reacting to the Indian IT department’s action, the UK-based British public broadcaster said that it was “fully cooperating” with the authorities and hoped that the situation will be resolved “as soon as possible”.
The New York-based independent non-profit Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) urged the Indian government to stop harassing journalists.
Its Asia programme coordinator Beh Lih Yi said: “Raiding the BBC’s India offices in the wake of a documentary criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi smacks of intimidation”.
“Indian authorities have used tax investigations as a pretext to target critical news outlets before, and must cease harassing BBC employees immediately, in line with the values of freedom that should be espoused in the world’s largest democracy,” CPJ said in a statement.
“The searches by the tax authorities of the offices of @BBCWorld in #Inde , 3 weeks after the censorship of his documentary on @narendramodi, constitute an outrageous reprisal. RSF denounces these attempts to silence any criticism of the Indian government,” Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) tweeted.
Amnesty International tweeted: “These raids are a blatant affront to freedom of expression.”

“The Indian authorities are clearly trying to harass and intimidate the BBC over its critical coverage of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. The overbroad powers of the Income Tax Department are repeatedly being weaponised to silence dissent. Last year, tax officials also raided the offices of a number of NGOs, including Oxfam India. These intimidatory acts, which undermine the right to freedom of expression in India, must end now,” it said in a statement.
The South Asia Solidarity Group, a human rights organisation based in the UK, dubbed it a “blatantly vindictive move”.
“In the wake of the government’s ban on sharing extracts or screening the documentary, this raid makes it clear that the Modi government will attack all those who criticise Narendra Modi, the BJP and those close to them,” said Mukti Shah, spokesperson for the group.
In New Delhi, officials said the survey was being carried out to investigate issues related to international taxation and transfer pricing of BBC subsidiary companies, and alleged that the BBC had been served with notices in the past but was “defiant and non-compliant” and had significantly diverted its profits.
The IT action against the BBC comes weeks after the broadcaster aired a controversial two-part documentary -“India: The Modi Question”- on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and 2002 Gujarat riots.
The Indian government has branded the two-part series a “propaganda piece”, designed to push a particular “discredited narrative”.
“The bias, lack of objectivity and continuing colonial mindset is blatantly visible,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said at the time it was aired in the UK last month.
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#Operations #BBC #offices #affront #freedom #expression #Global #watchdogs
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 14, 2023
Mahua Moitra asks if IT action on BBC will be followed by one on ‘Mr A’

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New Delhi: TMC MP Mahua Moitra on Tuesday asked if the “raids” on the British Broadcasting Corporation’s (BBC) offices would be followed by one on “Mr A” in an apparent dig at Adani Group chief Gautam Adani.
The Income Tax Department on Tuesday conducted a survey operation at the BBC’s offices in Delhi and Mumbai as part of an investigation into alleged tax evasion, officials said.
“Since agencies doing these Valentine Day ‘Surveys’ how about @IncomeTaxIndia, @SEBI_India & @dir_ed conduct one on govt’s most valued sweetheart Mr. A?,” she said in a tweet tagging SEBI and the Enforcement Directorate.
The surprise action comes weeks after the broadcaster aired a two-part documentary, “India: The Modi Question”.
The action, it is learnt, was initiated by the director general of the Income Tax Department in Mumbai across three premises.
“Reports of Income Tax raid at BBC’s Delhi office. Wow, really? How unexpected. Meanwhile farsaan seva for Adani when he drops in for a chat with Chairman @SEBI_India office,” the TMC MP said in another tweet.
Reports of Income Tax raid at BBC’s Delhi office
Wow, really? How unexpected.
Meanwhile farsaan seva for Adani when he drops in for a chat with Chairman @SEBI_India office.
— Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) February 14, 2023
US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research, in a report, has alleged financial irregularities and stock manipulation in shares of Adani Group companies and the opposition has been demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the issue. The Adani Group has dismissed the allegations as baseless.

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#Mahua #Moitra #asks #action #BBC
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 14, 2023
BREAKING: Income Tax raid in BBC Delhi office

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In a sudden development, the Income Tax department is conducting search operations in BBC’s Delhi office on Tuesday. According to reports, employees have been asked to leave the office and their phones have been seized.
The raid comes after BBC broadcasted a two-part series documentary – India: The Modi Question – on the 2002 Gujarat riots when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the state’s chief minister. Thousands were killed and millions were left homeless, especially in the Muslim community.
It states that “Modi is directly responsible” for the riots that killed millions of people and displaced many, mostly Muslims. It also said the “violence was politically motivated” and the aim “was to purge Muslims from Hindu areas”. The riots were impossible “without the climate of impunity created by the state government.”
(This is a developing story. More details awaited)
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#BREAKING #Income #Tax #raid #BBC #Delhi #office
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 14, 2023
Vice goes inside Andrew Tate’s murky world for doc acquired by BBC

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London: The BBC has acquired Vice’s explosive documentary about controversial influencer and self-proclaimed misogynist Andrew Tate, reports ‘Variety’.
Produced by Vice World News, the documentary has been years in the making and gives voice to women who were allegedly abused by the former kickboxer, ‘Variety’ adds.
The film takes viewers inside Tate’s compound in Romania, where he was recently arrested. Both Tate and his brother remain in police custody in Romania, facing allegations of rape and trafficking.
In the doc, Vice reporter Matt Shea gets an inside look at Tate’s ‘War Room’, and questions him on his public stances about the treatment of women, which have become a central part of his public persona and business.
The film also delves into the so-called “loverboy method” that was sold by Tate to thousands of young men as a tool for gaining influence over women, and which Romanian authorities now allege he used to recruit and manipulate vulnerable women to perform pornographic content.
The hour-long documentary, ‘The Dangerous Rise of Andrew Tate’, has been sold by Vice Distribution, the global distribution arm of Vice Media Group, to the British public broadcaster.
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#Vice #Andrew #Tates #murky #world #doc #acquired #BBC
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 13, 2023