The Supreme Court ruling affirming the right of the media to criticise the government without facing retaliation in the form of arrest and prosecution is a welcome development not just for the free press but also for Indian democracy. That the country’s top court needed to spell out what ought to have been an obvious fact in any democracy speaks to the state of freedom of expression in India. In recent years, India’s ranking in press freedom indices has fallen steeply. Multiple journalists have been arrested, often while reporting on subjects that are embarrassing to governments either at the Centre or in the states. Several journalists have been charged with harsh anti-terrorism laws, or even incarcerated. Indian authorities have raided newsrooms and accused targeted — independent? — media groups of financial fraud. Documentaries by international media organisations like the BBC and Al Jazeera, on the rise of Hindu majoritarian violence in India, have been banned. New Delhi also ranks near the top in the number of demands social media firms receive from governments seeking to pull down content.

Around the world too, journalism is an increasingly perilous profession to practise — the slaying of journalists in the line of duty, especially in conflict zones, has been on the rise. The war in Gaza is one example of this. At a time when the economic models that have traditionally underpinned journalism are already under stress, forcing mass layoffs and the closure of many media organisations, threats from governments add to the hostile ambience in which the press operates today. Such a climate has a chilling effect on the free press — organisations and individual journalists are under pressure to bend before governments. Asking difficult questions of those in power to hold them accountable — the fundamental job of the media — consequently becomes an exercise in risk management. The press, meant to be a pillar of democracy, is instead encouraged to cheerlead the governments of the day. India has already slid a fair distance down this slippery slope. The Supreme Court verdict must become the first step towards redressing this crisis.