Grievance and Right of Reply Policy

Purpose

DeshiAI recognizes that reporting, analysis, investigations, opinion and other published material can affect reputation, privacy, employment, business interests, personal safety and public understanding. People and organizations materially affected by DeshiAI coverage have a clear route to raise concerns, correct factual misunderstandings and provide relevant responses.

A right of reply supports fairness and helps maintain an accurate public record. It does not give a person or organization control over DeshiAI’s editorial conclusions, headlines, source selection, article length, publication timing or future coverage. This policy applies before and after publication and should be read alongside the Corrections and Updates Policy, Editorial Complaints Procedure, Privacy Policy, Anonymous and Confidential Sources Policy and Investigative Journalism Standards.

Types of Request

A correction request concerns a specific factual error or materially misleading statement and should be sent to corrections@deshiai.in. A grievance or right-of-reply request concerns the treatment of a person or organization, omission or presentation of a response, privacy, fairness or another issue requiring a substantive editorial response and should be sent to complaints@deshiai.in. A formal complaint alleges a breach of a published editorial policy or requests review of an earlier editorial decision. Privacy rights requests should be sent to privacy@deshiai.in, and formal legal notices should be sent to legal@deshiai.in.

Using a legal route does not prevent DeshiAI from separately reviewing a factual, technical or ethical concern.

Who May Raise a Grievance

A grievance or reply may be submitted by a person named or clearly identifiable in an article, an organization materially criticized, an authorized representative, legal guardian, person whose private information was published, source, author, contributor, person whose image or work was used, reader identifying a serious and specific fairness issue or another party with a legitimate connection to the matter. DeshiAI may request proportionate evidence of authority where someone acts on behalf of another person.

A person does not need to be well known, legally represented or experienced in dealing with media organizations to receive a fair review.

Pre-Publication Right of Reply

Before publishing serious criticism, allegations of wrongdoing or information likely to cause substantial reputational harm, DeshiAI will normally provide the affected party with a meaningful opportunity to respond. The request identifies the principal matters under examination, substance of the criticism, material factual claims, relevant dates, documents or events requiring explanation, response deadline, applicable time zone, contact person and proposed response method.

DeshiAI is not required to disclose confidential-source identities, source-protection methods, unpublished evidence where disclosure would create material risk, a complete draft, unrelated reporting, legal advice, internal editorial discussions or information that could enable evidence destruction or source intimidation. The information provided should nevertheless be sufficient to allow a meaningful and informed response.

Reasonable Time

The response period reflects the seriousness and complexity of the claims, volume of questions, urgency, public safety, publication schedule, availability of the affected party, language, time zone, need to review documents, whether the matter is already public and whether delay could cause further harm. An urgent technology or security report may require a shorter deadline, while a complex investigation may reasonably require more time.

DeshiAI does not impose an artificially short deadline simply to state that a response was requested. A reasonable request for additional time will be considered in light of public interest, urgency and publication requirements.

Form and Verification of a Response

A response may be provided by email, written statement, recorded interview, documented telephone interview, authorized representative, secure communication method, supporting documents or another agreed format. The responder should identify the statements being challenged, factual position, supporting evidence, material limitations, attribution conditions, authority to speak and any proposed confidentiality. No confidentiality condition applies unless DeshiAI expressly accepts it.

A response is relevant evidence but is not automatically treated as established fact. DeshiAI may examine documents, chronology, public records, legal status, technical evidence, source interests, contradictions, previous statements, institutional authority and whether the responder has direct knowledge. Follow-up questions may be asked. Unrelated accusations, private information, deceptive claims and material requiring further verification will not be reproduced uncritically.

Representation of the Response

DeshiAI represents a material response accurately and fairly. It may quote, summarize, link to a complete statement, include a dedicated response section, add a post-publication response, publish a standalone reply or explain why particular material was not reproduced. A summary should preserve the central position and any decisive qualification. A lengthy response may be shortened where its meaning remains intact.

DeshiAI may independently examine, challenge or contextualize the response. Fair treatment does not require accepting the responder’s interpretation of events or evidence.

No Response or Refusal to Comment

Where no response is received by the stated deadline, an article may state that DeshiAI requested comment and did not receive a response by publication time only where the request was sent through a reasonable route, contained sufficient information, allowed proportionate time and no response was received. Silence is not evidence that an allegation is true, and a later response may be considered for inclusion or an update.

A refusal to comment should be described neutrally and should not be characterized as an admission, guilt, deception, inability to answer or confirmation unless independent evidence supports that interpretation. A person or organization may decline because of litigation, confidentiality, lack of authority, timing, security, commercial restrictions or another legitimate reason.

Post-Publication Right of Reply

A person or organization materially criticized may submit a reply where no adequate pre-publication opportunity was provided, a response became available later, new evidence emerged, the article materially misrepresented the person’s position, the response would improve the public record, the article remains current or fairness otherwise requires consideration.

The request should identify the article, exact issue being addressed, factual response, supporting evidence, authority to act, requested remedy and any urgency. A proposed reply may be declined where it does not meaningfully address the article or primarily promotes unrelated products, services, political messages or personal accusations.

Possible Outcomes

A post-publication response may result in no change, factual correction, clarification, addition of the response, article update, editor’s note, separate response article, link to a complete statement, headline revision, privacy adjustment, formal complaint review or retraction where the original article is no longer reliable. The appropriate remedy depends on whether the original material was inaccurate, incomplete, unfair or materially affected by subsequent information.

Limits of the Right of Reply

A right of reply does not provide a right to approve an article, dictate its headline, select or remove sources, delete accurate criticism, suppress public-interest documents, prevent DeshiAI from analyzing a response, control placement, require publication of unlimited material, prevent future reporting, demand favorable search presentation or use payment, advertising or legal pressure to determine the outcome.

A subject may identify factual errors and provide supporting evidence. DeshiAI retains responsibility for the final editorial decision.

New Allegations in a Reply

A response may contain allegations against another person or organization. DeshiAI does not publish those allegations simply because they appear in a reply. New allegations may require independent verification, an opportunity for the newly criticized party to respond, privacy or legal review, separate reporting, removal from the published response or rejection.

A right of reply is not a mechanism for transferring unverified allegations or reputational harm to another party.

Private and Sensitive Information

Responses should not unnecessarily contain private addresses, identity documents, children’s information, health records, intimate details, financial-account information, confidential source information, passwords, private keys, legal advice, unrelated family information or material that creates a security or safety risk. DeshiAI may redact or summarize sensitive information while preserving the relevant substance of the response.

Public Authorities, Companies and Private Individuals

Governments, companies, technology platforms, campaigns and large institutions may have professional communications teams and substantial resources. Their responses are treated fairly but remain subject to independent verification. An official statement may establish an institution’s position without resolving the underlying factual or technical issue. DeshiAI seeks to prevent organizational resources, legal language or public-relations capacity from overwhelming the response of a private person, developer, researcher or smaller affected group.

Private individuals may require additional explanation and reasonable time. DeshiAI considers media experience, language, access to records, vulnerability, retaliation risk, family impact, urgency, need for identification and whether anonymization can preserve public value. Lack of media experience is not treated as evidence of unreliability.

Children and otherwise vulnerable people receive heightened privacy and safety consideration. A parent, guardian, institution or campaign does not have an unlimited right to publish a child’s personal information, and DeshiAI may decline identifying details even when an adult requests their publication.

Contributor and Source Grievances

Authors and contributors may raise grievances concerning false attribution, material alteration of an author’s position, undisclosed changes, plagiarism, harassment, discrimination, retaliation, pressure to conceal sponsorship, improper use of identity, source-protection failures or pressure to breach editorial standards. A purely contractual dispute may require a separate legal or commercial route, while related editorial concerns remain reviewable.

A source may complain that DeshiAI breached confidentiality, misrepresented the source, published unsafe identifying information, used off-the-record material improperly, changed attribution, failed to protect documents or ignored a material correction. Source grievances receive confidential handling, and the publication does not disclose a protected identity merely to explain the complaint publicly.

Commercial Grievances

Advertisers, sponsors and partners may raise concerns about inaccurate presentation of agreed commercial material, missing disclosure, contractual production errors, incorrect sponsor identification, broken commercial links or failure to follow a lawful written agreement. Commercial grievance review does not provide control over independent editorial coverage, and commercial personnel do not make the final determination concerning editorial independence.

Review and Findings

DeshiAI aims to acknowledge a specific grievance or right-of-reply request within five business days. Review may include the article and earlier versions, source records, response correspondence, documents, recordings, author and editor explanations, conflict disclosures, commercial arrangements, privacy considerations, legal status, public interest, applicable policy and requested remedy.

A review may conclude that DeshiAI acted fairly, that a response was adequately represented, that additional response material should be added, that a factual correction or clarification is required, that an article should be reclassified, that privacy protections should be adjusted, that a reply should be published separately, that no change is required, that a formal complaint review is necessary or that the article should be retracted.

Appeal and Closure

A person dissatisfied with the decision may use the Editorial Complaints Procedure by identifying a material error, overlooked evidence, incorrect policy application, unfair process, conflict, new information or disproportionate remedy. Repetition without new grounds may be closed after a reasoned final response.

Abuse, Coordinated Pressure and No Retaliation

DeshiAI may limit communication that is threatening, discriminatory, automated, deceptive, persistently repetitive or designed to intimidate sources and editors. A coordinated campaign involving large numbers of identical messages does not establish that the underlying allegation is true. Any specific and credible factual concern contained within such communication should nevertheless be assessed.

DeshiAI does not retaliate against a person for raising a good-faith grievance, correction request or right of reply. A contributor, source, reader, advertiser or subject does not lose fair treatment merely because they have challenged the publication. Knowingly false, manipulative or threatening conduct may be managed proportionately.

Public Accountability and Contact

Material rights-of-reply additions, corrections, reclassifications and grievance outcomes may be recorded in the Public Corrections Log or Editorial Transparency Report while protecting personal, confidential and security-sensitive information.

Grievances and rights of reply may be sent to complaints@deshiai.in. Specific factual corrections may be sent to corrections@deshiai.in. Privacy requests may be sent to privacy@deshiai.in. Formal legal correspondence may be sent to legal@deshiai.in.