VIJAYAWADA: The Editors Guild of India on Friday said it is deeply concerned over the Andhra Pradesh government’s decision to delegate powers to the secretaries of different departments to file complaints and lodge cases against the media through the public prosecutor against published or broadcast news items that they consider defamatory.
In a press release, the Guild said it believes that such blanket powers to the top civil servants will lead to misuse and their rampant application will do grievous damage to the freedom of the media.
The Guild urged the Andhra Pradesh government to withdraw the order. Criminal defamation is bad enough by itself, in the hands of individuals. If the State was to employ it with its own limitless resources, it will amount to censorship by another name, it noted.