As India’s hospitals filled up and long queues developed outside crematoriums last month, local journalist Anuj Awasthi says he had a big scoop. Oxygen supplies were being diverted away from his district in Uttar Pradesh to a larger city in the country’s most-populous state, he reported.
A few days later, the reporter for the local Kanwhizz Times was handed a so-called show-cause notice by the district administration, under a law intended to curb rumors and misinformation.
The notice stated that the report was false, and demanded that he reveal the source of his story and a subsequent Facebook post. Awasthi says he has responded stating that his article contained factually correct information widely reported by other news organizations.