Days after Andhra Pradesh cable operators blocked four TV news channels, soon after Chandrababu Naidu-led TDP assumed power in the state, journalist-turned-TDP MLA Kalikiri Murali Mohan has assured journalists and media of raising their concerns and solving their problems.

The Puthalapattu MLA and former member of the Andhra Pradesh Union of Working Journalists gave assurance during a felicitation event at the Tirupati Press Club. 

On June 6, two days after assuming power, the cable operators reportedly blocked four news channels –  TV9, NTV, 10TV and Sakshi TV. The opposition YSR Congress Party alleged that the news channels were “illegally blocked” because they were critical of the TDP. 

YSR Congress’s S Niranjan Reddy also filed a complaint with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India about the blocking. In his complaint, Reddy alleged that the state’s cable TV operators’ association “acted under pressure and directions from the TDP-led government to block these channels without justification or procedural compliance”, as reported by The News Minute.

Notably, news channels ABN and TV5 were banned for five years under the YSRCP government. 

As per the Telecommunication (Broadcasting And Cable) Services Interconnection (Addressable Systems) Regulations, 2017, no service provider should disconnect the signals of television channels without giving at least three weeks’ notice, clearly specifying the reasons for the disconnection.

Earlier, the Committee to Protect Journalists and the International Federation of Journalists called for the immediate restoration of access to the broadcasters and raised concerns of curbs on press freedom in India.  

Newslaundry has extensively reported on the violation of press freedom in India and the need for better safeguards. Read here.

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