35 rights groups urge Reuters to end ties with India’s Islamophobic media agency
LONDON – An international coalition of more than 35 civil rights groups has called on British global news service Reuters to end its partnership with India’s Asia News International (ANI).
They accuse ANI of being complicit in Islamophobic reporting and spreading propaganda unleashed by Hindu nationalists.
In a letter to Reuters and its editor-in-chief Alessandra Galloni, these organizations pointed to ANI ‘s alleged Islamophobic reporting.
The Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) also highlighted a recent ANI report on violence-torn Manipur that falsely accused a Muslim man of gang rape.
The tweet was widely shared but later deleted after fact-checkers found fault with it.
British media giant Reuters not only has a news sharing agreement with ANI, but has also invested in the Indian news agency.
In a statement, the IAMC said ANI’s dishonest practices have harmed both the domestic and global media ecosystems.
Time and again, the names of Muslims accused of serious crimes are mentioned, while the known names of non-Muslims accused of the same crime are not.
ANI’s proven anti-Muslim bias, close ties with the Indian government, knowingly falsifying information, and resorting to fabricated sources fuel hatred against Muslims in India.
“ANI’s Islamophobic bias in its reporting is troubling and systematic. In April, 2020 ANl recorded the names of Muslims accused of hoarding COVID-19 masks, while not reporting the names of non-Muslims accused of the same crime, thereby lending its voice to a broader conspiratorial campaign of blaming Muslims for the spread of COVID-19 in India,” said the civil rights groups.
They cited findings of Brussels based think-tank EU Disinfo Lab, which found ANI extensively quoting from non-existent sources and non-existent think tanks in its reporting.
They claimed that Indian Ministry of External Affairs has enlisted ANI to produce videos for media campaigns boosting India’s image abroad.
India’s leading magazine Caravan also claimed that ANI had explicit agreements with Indian government agencies.
These organizations urged the management of Reuters to immediately divest stakes from ANI and stop providing fiscal support to an organization whose reporting displayed a pattern of biased, anti-Muslim reporting and which actively colludes with the Indian government.
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