Programme
Internet Governance
Privacy, free speech, surveillance, digital identity and cybersecurity. 3,058 items.
4 Jan 2012
News
2011: The year India began to harness social mediaAbout half a decade ago, netizens began to expand their online presence by forging new relationships, rediscovering old ones and sharing information and content on what came to be collectively termed as social media. The year gone by marked …
3 Jan 2012
Blog post
Click to ChangeFrom organising political protests and flash mobs to uploading their versions of Kolaveri Di, people brought about change with the help of the internet, writes Nishant Shah in this article published in the Indian Express on 1 January 2012.
31 Dec 2011
Blog post
The Historian Wins Over the BiographerIn Walter Isaacson's eponymous biography of Steve Jobs, the multibillion dollar man who is credited with single handedly changing the face of computing and the digital media industry, we face the dilemma of a biographer: how do you make …
28 Dec 2011
Blog post
Of Surrogate Futures and Scattered TemporalitiesThere can be no refuting Michael Edwards’ claim that the world we live in is not only thick with problems, but that the problems that we are collectively trying to address are ‘thick...complex, politicized and unpredictable...complicated …
27 Dec 2011
Event
Geekup @ CISCIS is hosting a Geekup tomorrow, December 27, 2011 in its office in Bangalore. Shyam Mani will be giving a talk.
26 Dec 2011
Blog post
US Clampdown Worse than the Great FirewallIf you thought China’s Internet censorship was evil, think again. American moves to clean up the Web could hurt global surfers, writes Sunil Abraham in this article published in Tehelka, Volume 8, Issue 50, 17 December 2011.
26 Dec 2011
Blog post
Exposing Data: Art Slash ActivismTactical Tech and the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) organised a public discussion on the intersection of Art and Activism at the CIS office in Bangalore on 28 November 2011. Videos of the event are now online. Ward Smith (Lecturer, …
24 Dec 2011
Blog post
Now Streaming on Your Nearest ScreenDigital cinema, especially the kinds produced using mobile devices and travelling on Internet social networking systems like YouTube and MySpace, are often dismissed as apolitical and ‘merely’ a fad. Moreover, content in the non-English …
23 Dec 2011
Blog post
Internet and Society in Asia: Challenges and Next StepsThe ubiquitous presence of internet technologies, in our age of digital revolution, has demanded the attention of various disciplines of study and movements for change around the globe. As more of our environment gets connected to the …
22 Dec 2011
News
When the digital spills into the physicalNishant Shah, Director-Research, Centre for Internet and Society, Bengaluru, tells us why flash mobs are an interesting sign of our times, and not just a passing fad.
22 Dec 2011
Blog post
Spy in the WebThe government’s proposed pre-censorship rules undermine the intelligence of an online user and endanger democracy.
22 Dec 2011
News
India's Techies Angered Over Internet Censorship PlanIndia has the world's largest democracy, and one of the most rambunctious. Millions of its young people are cutting edge when it comes to high-tech. Yet the country is still very conservative by Western standards, and a government minister …
21 Dec 2011
Event
Free Speech Online in India under Attack?When the Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Mr. Kapil Sibal suggested pre-censorship for a range of popular online platforms and social networking sites, the suggestion was met by a barrage of criticism, which …
19 Dec 2011
News
Indecent ProposalsIf Kapil Sibal’s attempts to police net content fructify, it may even lead to a reversal of some of the forward-looking provisions of the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000. The new proposal, for instance, will reverse Section 79 which …
19 Dec 2011
News
Censorship — A Death Knell for Freedom of Expression OnlineOn December 8, 2011, NDTV aired an interesting discussion on internet censorship. Shashi Tharoor, Soli Sorabjee, Shekhar Kapoor, Ken Ghosh and Sunil Abraham participated in this discussion with NDTV's Sonia Singh.
15 Dec 2011
Blog post
Invisible Censorship: How the Government Censors Without Being SeenThe Indian government wants to censor the Internet without being seen to be censoring the Internet. This article by Pranesh Prakash shows how the government has been able to achieve this through the Information Technology Act and the …
13 Dec 2011
News
Technological beasts like Facebook, Orkut, YouTube & Google impossible to controlThey were places that let you be: to chat with buddies, exchange photos and plan parties. The rules of engagement were loose, voyeurism passed off as curiosity, vanity as sharing and gibes as friendly banter.
12 Dec 2011
Blog post
That’s the unkindest cut, Mr SibalThere’s Kolaveri-di on the Internet over Kapil Sibal’s diktat to social media sites to prescreen users’ posts. That diktat goes far beyond the restrictions placed on our freedom of expression by the IT Act. But, says Sunil Abraham of the …
12 Dec 2011
News
Online gag:Existing rules give little freedomEven as the controversy over Kapil Sibal's attempt to get internet giants such as Google and Facebook to prescreen user-generated content to weed out 'offensive' material rages, a yet-to-be-published study by Bangalore-based Centre for …
12 Dec 2011
News
Online @ IndiaI haven't yet heard of anybody in India going on a rampage because somebody in Pakistan started an 'India hate' page. However, I have seen people kill and destroy because they got incited to violence and hatred through offline religious …
12 Dec 2011
News
Much at stake for tech sector in UID projectWith the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance raising a red flag against the National Identification Authority of India ( NIAI) Bill to grant the UID (or Aadhar) project legal status, the project looks set for a slowdown. That could …
12 Dec 2011
News
Internet, social media access should not be blocked: BanAmidst a raging controversy over the federal government’s proposal to monitor content in cyber space, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Friday said access to the Internet and various social media must not be blocked as a way to prevent …
12 Dec 2011
10 Dec 2011
News
India entering the Minority Report age?Indian government efforts to block offensive material from the Internet have prompted a storm of online ridicule along with warnings of the risk to India's image as a bastion of free speech.
9 Dec 2011
News
Los internautas indios se oponen a la censura a través de la RedLa idea del Gobierno indio de censurar los contenidos de internet ha chocado con el rechazo de la empresas del sector y de los internautas, que están usando las redes sociales para ridiculizar al ministro
9 Dec 2011
News
India bid to censor Internet draws flakIndian government efforts to block offensive material from the Internet have prompted a storm of online ridicule along with warnings of the risk to India's image as a bastion of free speech.
9 Dec 2011
News
Google V/s Kapil SibalMr Kapil Sibal was quoted by the Hindu* today as saying that "he had been left with no choice" because the internet companies "refused to delete incendiary hate-speech."
8 Dec 2011
News
Social media sites refuse Indian censorship requestThe Indian government's proposal to crack down on offensive internet content has sparked anger among the population.
8 Dec 2011
Blog post
Press Coverage of Online Censorship RowWe are maintaining a rolling blog with press references to the row created by the proposal by the Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology to pre-screen user-generated Internet content.
8 Dec 2011
News
Phishing Attacks on the RiseIt is very difficult to spot a fake website from the real one these days...with all the new technologies to clearly deceive the eyes. However, there are some ways to make the real from the fake ones with the help of two visual cues. Sunil …