Statement on Manipur on Social Media

In the past few months, as horrifying details of the conflict in #Manipur have emerged, NWMI members from the state have been drawing the network’s attention to the experiences of #journalists operating in this distressing situation.

As a collective of mediapersons, we have spent these months in continuous dialogue with our members from within and outside Manipur, trying to figure out what constructive role we can all play in these circumstances, including to defuse tensions within the journalist community in the state and serve an educational role for journalists outside the state.

Meanwhile, we believe it is important to emphasise the following points made by some NWMI members from Manipur:

* it is unacceptable for journalists to support state violence against the people

* it is unacceptable for journalists to support violence inflicted by one community on another

* slut-shaming #women of a community that is deemed to be an enemy is condemnable irrespective of who does it, but when the slut-shaming and #misogyny come from a journalist, it is particularly reprehensible

* trolling and doxxing journalists reporting on ethnic strife and raising their voices against violence are completely unacceptable and also self-defeating, as these have the effect of shutting down voices at a time when we need as many outspoken professionals as possible disseminating information about ground realities to the rest of the world

NWMI has always stood in solidarity with journalists who speak truth to power, and we continue to defend all journalists who report with diligence and commitment to principles of fairness and accuracy.

Given the magnitude of the ongoing strife in Manipur, the scale of violence and the role of the state in exacerbating the situation for the last five months, trolling and doxxing cause even more harm to journalists than usual. On the other hand, journalists who themselves support violence and/or indulge in trolling, doxxing and slut-shaming damage #journalism itself.

Likewise, bullying and intimidating human-rights activists worsens an already tenuous situation for marginalised communities. Human-rights defenders and conscientious journalists are invested in broadcasting the trauma and loss of oppressed peoples. If both groups are harassed, there can be little hope of intervention and improvement.

These forms of coercion compound the immense harm already caused by the Internet shutdown in Manipur and the large-scale disinformation on the Manipur conflict spread on social media platforms.

We appeal to responsible users of social media to avoid amplifying unsubstantiated and toxic material.

The limited coverage of Manipur by the media outside the North-East may have created the impression in the rest of the country that the violence in the state has ended, but this is not the case at all. As the media’s and public’s attention wanes, now more than ever, Manipur’s journalists need an environment that facilitates truth-telling.

We stand with all journalists who are targeted for doing their work, and oppose all attempts to intimidate and silence journalists, including when that attempt comes from within the profession itself.