Self-proclaimed media watchdog wants to ‘shake up the system’

An ex-pilot from Mumbai and a lawyer from Delhi came together on India’s 72nd Independence Day to launch a group called ‘India Against Biased Media (IABM)’ whose aim is to “monitor the media for biased and fake news stories”.

A report in the Mumbai Mirror today, titled “Mumbai’s ex-pilot behind group aiming to bully ‘media’ into submission,” informs that ex-pilot Vipul Saxena from Mumbai and Delhi-based SC lawyer Vibhor Anand are the founders of IABM. According to the report, the group has already filed 25 cases of sedition against actor Swara Bhaskar in various police stations across the country. They have also lodged cases against numerous journalists for their recent tweets in the wake of an attack on JNU’s Umar Khalid. The report in Mumbai Mirror pointed out: “As the group’s initial actions prove, it makes no distinction between an actress airing personal views, a YouTuber fact checking government claims, and journalists tweeting news breaks. They are all ‘media’ for it.” It further reads: “Journalists and lawyers say the fact that its (IABM) favourite tool seems to be a spray of cases against any individual the group deems to be ‘anti-national or anti-government’ indicates that its members will focus only on browbeating media into submission.”

The group’s Mumbai-based co-founder Saxena made it amply clear in his interview with the Mirror that ‘IABM is not affiliated to any political party.’. But his Twitter account tells us that he’s a fan of Prime Minister Narendra Modi — whose image is plastered across an orange background as his account’s cover photo. Saxena’s Twitter bio also makes it a point to highlight that he is ‘followed by Modiji’. “We just want to have a fair and truthful version of news and events to be circulated so that foreign powers and anti-India forces do not misuse it to create social and religious disharmony,” he told Mumbai Mirror.

Meanwhile, Press Council of India’s retired head Justice C K Prasad said the Press Council of India will always safeguard the freedom of the press, and if some group is harassing journalists, action will be taken against them.