Investigative journalism faces an existential threat as courts and law enforcement agencies increasingly use legal mandates to force journalists to reveal anonymous sources. By seizing reporters’ personal phones, computers, and notes, authorities breach the sacred bond of journalistic confidentiality. This aggressive legal overreach terrifies potential whistleblowers, effectively cutting off crucial avenues for exposing corruption.

Bharat Media Association strongly defends the right to source protection, warning that forcing reporters to act as police informants destroys investigative journalism and completely shields systemic institutional corruption from public view.