On November 7, the spokesperson for India’s Ministry of External Affairs said in a press conference that Canada had blocked “prominent” news outlet The Australia Today after it published a report on External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s Australia visit highlighting the “Khalistan problem”. According to the spokesperson, “these are actions which yet again highlight the hypocrisy of Canada towards freedom of speech”.
The claim was fake – and the purportedly prominent news outlet, which despite its name, mainly carries a great deal of news about India and its diaspora, had a mere 9,000 followers on X, formerly Twitter.
But the story became breaking news for the Indian media and journalists. “Canada is no longer a democracy,” claimed one journalist on X, adding, “Will Canada soon abduct and disappear businessmen and journalists for questioning incompetent Justin Trudeau like Pakistan?” Said another, in a message since deleted: “Canada, torchbearer of ‘freedom of speech’ bans media”.
Others carried it as the “big story” on primetime news. Major media outlets published the ministry’s statement as a story with the word “hypocrisy” in the headlines, reinforcing the Indian government claim.
Is it conceivable that the government of a nuclear power, with the fourth-largest military in the world and Great Power aspirations, does not have the capacity to check an easily verifiable fact?
This story was originally published in scroll.in. Read the full story here.
