[1][2] The organization has declared "objectives of protecting press freedom and for raising the standards of editorial leadership of newspapers and magazines".
The official statements of EGI have highlighted the incidents of muzzling of the freedom of press and threats to the safety of journalists but have rarely made any visible impact.
[16][17] In 2021, EGI demanded a probe by a court-led team, into the death of a journalist during the Lakhimpur Kheri massacre, a vehicle-ramming attack and mob lynching incident during the farmers’ protest against the farm laws passed by the BJP led Union Government.
The Tripura Police filed charges against these lawyers under strict anti terror laws of Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
[21][22] The police also filed charges under the UAPA against 102 people including some Indian journalists[23] for protesting, or even merely mentioning, the communal violence on social media platforms and asked Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to freeze their accounts.
[24] The EGI released a statement, that said "This is an extremely disturbing trend where such a harsh law, where in the processes of investigation and bail applications are extremely rigorous and overbearing, is being used for merely reporting on and protesting against communal violence," The EGI expressed its outrage at the Tripura police for its coercive action against journalists, claiming that it was an attempt by the Tripura government to divert attention away from its own inability to control violence by the majority religion (Hindu) or to take action against the perpetrators.
The Guild reaffirmed its earlier request to the Supreme Court that it consider the "unjustifiable" application of laws like UAPA and provide strict guidelines on charging journalists under them.
[25][26] The Guild cited The Wire's investigative report on Tek Fog and said that "several women journalists were subjected to thousands of abusive tweets" to "instill fear in them" and "prevent them from expressing themselves freely and go about their jobs".
[28] On September 2, 2023, the Editors' Guild of India released a report on the 2023 Manipur Violence after sending a three-member 'fact finding' team to the state in August.
[31] On September 15, the Chief Justice of India – D. Y. Chandrachud said the Guild may be right or wrong in its report about "partisan media coverage" of the Manipur violence, but it has a right to free speech to put forth its views in print.