Vanishing Media Freedoms Across South Asia

Across South Asia, an already challenging climate for free media appears to have further deteriorated in the past year. The 2020 World Press Freedom Index has seen India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka slip down the annual rankings, with all four South Asian countries in the bottom third worldwide. The challenges to free media in South Asia are myriad—particularly threats to journalists’ safety and freedom, repressive actions and overt censorship by governments, unravelling business models, and a chaotic online environment. In many cases, the coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated the threats that journalists and media outlets face as economic pressures have intensified and governments seek to further restrict media freedoms.

On December 15, USIP hosted distinguished journalists from the region to shed light on the challenges of the past year, share personal insights from the ground, and discuss what we can expect from South Asian governments and media outlets going forward.

For more information about this event, please visit

Speakers:

Tamanna Salikuddin

Director, South Asia, U.S. Institute of Peace

Shahidul Alam

Managing Director, Drik Picture Library Ltd. (Bangladesh)

Dilrukshi Handunnetti

Executive Director, Center for Investigative Reporting (Sri Lanka)

Siddharth Varadarajan

Founding Editor, The Wire (India)

Cyril Almeida

Visiting Senior Expert, U.S. Institute of Peace

Former Assistant Editor, Dawn Newspaper (Pakistan)

Connect with us!

Subscribe to our YouTube channel

Newsletters

The United States Institute of Peace is a national, nonpartisan, independent institute, founded by Congress and dedicated to the proposition that a world without violent conflict is possible, practical, and essential for U.S. and global security. In conflict zones abroad, the Institute works with local partners to prevent, mitigate, and resolve violent conflict. To reduce future crises and the need for costly interventions, USIP works with governments and civil societies to help their countries solve their own problems peacefully. The Institute provides expertise, training, analysis, and support to those who are working to build a more peaceful, inclusive world.