The govt's crackdown on social networks to stop rumor-mongering is fast morphing into an assault of free speech
Is China right about the internet? The government of Indiaseems to think so.
Last week, New Delhi cracked down on social networking sitesand blocked mobile phone users from sending text messages, Beijing-style. Thecontroversial move originated as a bid to stop web-based rumor-mongering andhate speech that caused as many as 30,000 people, panicked by the threat ofethnic violence, to flee India's major cities.
But with one draconian internet law already implemented inApril, and a knee-jerk Telecom Security Policy swiftly being drafted, theeffort threatens to morph into a full-on assault on this country's cherishedfreedom of speech.
“While I agree that the government must have the right tointervene when things on social media and on SMS are inciteful, hateful,inflammatory or in areas like pornography, the problem is the exercise of thatright is being done today in a very, very ad hoc manner, without anyoversight,” said Rajeev Chandrasekhar, an independent member of parliament whohas criticized the government's efforts to police the web.
“What is happening today can be interpreted as using theopportunity to fix a lot of things that the government doesn't like.”
On August 11, troublemakers spread doctored images fromMyanmar and elsewhere to encourage Muslims to attack ethnically distinctIndians from the country's northeast — sparking a riot in Mumbai in which twopeople were killed and more than 50 injured. And subsequently, theirresponsible or ill-intentioned disseminated false reports of more violenceagainst northeasterners to cause mass panic in Bangalore, Chennai, Pune andother major Indian cities over recent weeks.
On August 22, the Indian government asked social media sitesincluding Facebook and Twitter to remove what it deemed inflammatory content.It issued a statement that it had already blocked nearly 250 websites thatallegedly included videos and images that could spur violence betweencommunities, and claimed that much of the material originated on sites based inPakistan.
But critics claim that the control measures did not stopthere.
Though the government maintains that it only asked Google,Twitter and Facebook to block links to the websites hosting inflammatorycontent, not individual user accounts, Twitter users allege that theauthorities have sought to block 16 Twitter handles (or nicknamed accounts).The handles in question allegedly include several that resemble the officialaccount of the prime minister's office, including obvious parody accounts, aswell as the handles of at least two journalistsand right-wing opponents of theruling Congress Party, such as Pravin Togadia of the far right Vishwa HinduParishad (VHP), according to local reports.
“The Prime Minister's Office had requested Twitter to takeappropriate action against six persons impersonating the PMO,” the PMO said ina statement issued Friday. “When they did not reply for a long time theGovernment Cyber Security Cell was requested to initiate action. Twitter hasnow conveyed to us that action has been taken stating 'we have removed thereported profiles from circulation due to violation of our Terms of Serviceregarding impersonation.'”
Others say the government's actions went further.
A national daily, for instance, posted a series of lettersfrom the Ministry of Communications & IT Department of Telecommunicationsto all internet service licensees that called for them to block access not onlyto Togadia's handle and various Facebook pages, but also Twitter handles like@PM0India and the accounts of right-leaning journalist Kanchan Gupta andnumerous other right-wing bloggers and commentators. A national TV channel andGupta himself also possess copies of the letters.
“I don't think that the government has been particularlyhappy with the fact that somebody who [does not] endorse this government'spolicies, its performance, and the manner in which this government has carriedout its constitutional responsibilities [has gained an internet following], andthey were just looking for an opportunity to sort of try and shut my voicedown,” said Gupta.
“Some ISPs did try to block me,” Gupta said. “In somecities, access was blocked, and that is how I got to know of it. People startedsending me messages that my handle had been blocked.”
Togadia, who has repeatedly come under fire for speecheslike one last year, in which he reportedly called for a revision to theconstitution to allow “anyone who converts Hindus to be beheaded,” was stilltweeting hours after he claimed the government was out to block him — thoughhis account shows no new tweets since 3 p.m. Thursday. Kanchan Gupta, stillgoing strong on the Delhi area Tata WiMax ISP, tweeted to followers thankingthem for their support in the face of attempted censorship on Friday. And manyof the other blacklisted accounts also still appeared to be active, at least onthat service provider.
