Topic
Public Accountability
112 items.
29 Jun 2016
Blog post
Submission by the Centre for Internet and Society on Revisions to ICANN Expected Standards of BehaviorPrepared by Vidushi Marda, with inputs from Dr. Nirmita Narasimhan and Sunil Abraham.
14 Oct 2015
Blog post
Contestations of Data, ECJ Safe Harbor Ruling and Lessons for IndiaThe European Court of Justice has invalidated a European Commission decision, which had previously concluded that the 'Safe Harbour Privacy Principles' provide adequate protections for European citizens’ privacy rights for the transfer of …
31 Jan 2014
Blog post
Open Letter to the Vatican: Request for Holy See to Comment on IPRDue to the Holy See’s demonstrated pro-access position to medicines and published materials for persons with disabilities, the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) requested for His Excellency, Archbishop Silvano M. Tomasi, to also …
9 Jun 2013
News
Facebook, Google deny spying accessThe CEOs of Facebook and Google on Saturday categorically denied that the US National Security Agency had "direct access" to their company servers for snooping on Gmail and Facebook users. But both acknowledged that the companies complied …
10 Jan 2013
Blog post
No Civil Society Members in the Cyber Regulations Advisory CommitteeThe Government of India has taken our advice and reconstituted the Cyber Regulations Advisory Commitee. But there is no representation of Internet users, citizens, and consumers — only government and industry interests.
7 Jan 2013
News
Clash of the cyberworldsIn an increasingly digital world, the issue of Internet freedom and governance has become hugely contested. Censorship and denial of access occur across the political spectrum of nations, even in liberal democracies.
14 Dec 2012
News
Hacktivists deface BSNL websiteThe Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) website, www.bsnl.co.in, was hacked and defaced on Thursday afternoon.
12 Dec 2012
News
Ayodhya trending on Twitter sparks censorship concernsOn the 20th anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition, the ShauryaDiwas, Ayodhya and Babri Masjid hashtags were trending on Twitter all day, with almost 2,500 messages sent over 48 hours.
10 Dec 2012
News
Debate on Section 66A rages onLast week, a reputed BPO in Chennai took down its Facebook page and introduced stricter moderation for posts on its bulletin board.
5 Dec 2012
Blog post
Online Censorship: How Government should Approach Regulation of SpeechWhy is there a constant brouhaha in India about online censorship? What must be done to address this?
2 Dec 2012
Blog post
So Much to LoseUnless you have been hiding under a rock, you have been a witness to the maelstrom of events that accompanied the death of the political leader Bal Thackeray.
30 Nov 2012
News
Thousands go online against 66AAn online petition aimed at amending section 66A of the Information Technology (IT) Act and re-examining internet laws has garnered 3,000 signatures since it began on Tuesday — two days before Kapil Sibal, telecom and IT minister, chairs a …
30 Nov 2012
News
Govt tweaks enforcement of IT Act after spate of arrestsThe government on Thursday tweaked the law to make it tougher for citizens to be arrested for online comments that are deemed offensive after recent arrests came in for heavy criticism by Internet activists, the media and other groups.
28 Nov 2012
Blog post
Fixing India’s anarchic IT ActSection 66A of the Information Technology (IT) Act criminalizes “causing annoyance or inconvenience” online, among other things. A conviction for such an offence can attract a prison sentence of as many as three years.
25 Nov 2012
Blog post
Breaking Down Section 66A of the IT ActSection 66A of the Information Technology Act, which prescribes 'punishment for sending offensive messages through communication service, etc.' is widely held by lawyers and legal academics to be unconstitutional. In this post Pranesh …
24 Nov 2012
Blog post
Draft nonsenseSeriously flawed and dodgily drafted provisions in the IT Act provide the state a stick to beat its citizens with.
21 Nov 2012
News
Women Arrested in Mumbai for Complaining on FacebookFor over 30 hours following the death of the Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray on Saturday, stores throughout Mumbai closed their shutters and taxis and autorickshaws stayed off the streets.
21 Nov 2012
News
The Last Word: Is there a need to review Information Technology Act?Does the high-handed arrest of two young girls mean it's time to review and revise the IT Act?
20 Nov 2012
News
Internet users flay Mumbai girls' arrest over Facebook postThe arrest of two girls over their Facebook post on shutdown in Mumbai for Bal Thackeray's funeral on Monday again opened a can of worms with netizens calling the move a "social media hijack by the powerful and the fundamentalists". Social …
20 Nov 2012
News
Girl's arrest draws flak on social mediaThe arrest of a 21-year-old girl by Mumbai police for criticizing the shutting down of the city following the death of Bal Thackeray come under fire from netizens.
20 Nov 2012
News
Arrests over Facebook posts: Why we’re on a dangerous slideThe most bizarre thing about the arrest of Shaheen Dhada and Renu Srinivasan on Monday over a Facebook post that questioned the wisdom of a bandh to mark Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray‘s death is that no laws were actually violated by the …
20 Nov 2012
News
Arrest of girl over Thackeray FB update a clear misuse of Sec 295AThe arrest of 21-year-old Shaheen Dhada over her Facebook status update questioning the shutdown of Mumbai over Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray‘s death, is a clear misapplication of section 295 A of the Indian Penal Code (“outrage religious …
19 Nov 2012
News
Post and be DamnedYour careless comments online could put you in jail, thanks to Section 66A of the Information Technology Act. Kavitha Shanmugam examines a law that some critics say is vague and unconstitutional
27 Sep 2012
News
Pitroda seeks to put govt information in public domainIn the first-ever Indian government press conference on Twitter, Sam Pitroda, adviser to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on public information infrastructure and innovations, championed the cause of putting government information in the …
27 Sep 2012
News
Censorship makes India fall two places on global internet freedom chartA recently released global report on the internet freedom rated India 39th in 2012, a slip from two places last year.
25 Sep 2012
News
Govt plans inter-ministerial panel on Internet policyThe government may set up an inter-ministerial panel to improve coordination among the various arms of the government on Internet-related issues such as governance, commerce and security, according to a senior government official who didn’t …
25 Sep 2012
Blog post
Analyzing the Latest List of Blocked Sites (Communalism and Rioting Edition) Part IISnehashish Ghosh does a further analysis of the leaked list of the websites blocked by the Indian Government from August 18, 2012 till August 21, 2012 (“leaked list”).
5 Sep 2012
News
Political war on the webTwitter is not only the ‘people’s voice’. It is also a forum for orchestrated propaganda.Kunal Majumder tracks the BJP-Congress online duel.
5 Sep 2012
News
Need a standard strategy to deal with Web issues: ChandrasekharThe government has been facing allegations of Internet censorship for over a year now.
4 Sep 2012
News
Is the govt caught in the 'censorship' web?NDTV aired a one-hour debate on censorship in "We the People" episode hosted by Barkha Dutt on August 26, 2012. Pranesh Prakash participated in the discussions as a speaker.