Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Indian Government Lifts Ban on Blogs

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the i-have-a-soapbox-and-i-must-speak dept.

iDope writes "The Department of Telecommunications of the Government of India has lifted the ban on blogs (reported previously on Slashdot) following pressure from the Indian blogger community and the media. Even with the lifting of the ban several bloggers from BloggersCollective are getting ready to file a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) (similar to a Class Action Lawsuit in US) in the Supreme Court of India against the Government censorship of the Internet."

9 of 135 comments (clear)

  1. We are rejoicing! by Tackhead · · Score: 4, Funny
    "In bureaucratic India, overlords who are first at posting are pleased to be welcoming you!"
    - Steve.

    (Yes I am really being named Steve, and the weather here in Bango...r, Maine is wonderful! We in America are overjoyed to be reading this and posting about it on your Slashdot!)

  2. Great ... now ... by Guanine · · Score: 4, Insightful

    How about China, with one fifth of the world's population, learns from this and stops censoring their internet, allowing Chinese citizens to fully participate in the online world community?

  3. Finally! by Andrewkov · · Score: 4, Funny

    Good news! Now we can outsource Blogging to India!

  4. Official Circular by iDope · · Score: 5, Informative
    Here's the official notice by the Department of Telecom to ISPs to remove the block (http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=18954 ):
    July 20, 2006 The Department of Telecom (DoT) has instructed all the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in the country to block only the specified website/webpages on the parent website. The DoT, in its letter issued to all the ISPs has mentioned that it had come to notice that in some cases the parent website had been blocked in contravention to what was stated in its earlier order dated 13th July 2006 whereby it ordered the ISPs to block certain websites/webpages. As such the DoT has now directed all the ISPs to strictly comply with the order dated 13th July 2006 and provide unhindered access to Internet except for the websites/webpages which have been specifically mentioned in its orders issued from time to time. The DoT has further sought explanation from the erring ISPs as to why action be not taken against them for blocking unintended websites/webpages.
  5. I doubt it by Silent+sound · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What we are seeing here is the difference between a democratic government like India (which has things like elected officals eventually accountable to their constituents and thus amenable to influence by public pressure; and an independent judiciary with the power to check the elected officials if they violate the citizenry's fundamental rights), and a state like China.

    Democracies can be imperfect; democracies like India can make mistakes, or do things (like this Blog censorship program) which are wrong. But at least in a democracy, there is some kind of mechanism in place that can be used to eventually fix the mistakes and correct the wrongs. China has no mechanisms in place to correct the wrongs of those in power. And so you can wait, but the wrongs are not going to just go away.

  6. Did anyone RTFA ? by genmax · · Score: 5, Informative

    So, the article says that ..

    a) The govt. had infact NOT asked for all blogs to be banned. It was just ISPs being clueluess. Repeat after me .. the blanket ban on blogspot and typepad was in ERROR ... the ISPs' mistake .. not the big bad govt's.

    b) The govt. had infact asked for 20 odd blogs and sites to be blocked - these were allegedly trying to incite hatred against certain minority communities, by blaming them for the recent bomb blasts in Mumbai. It was felt that such hate campaigns may lead to a violent reprisal against these communities.

    c) While banning said sites may also be an attack of freedom of speech (though I think this is similar to the ban on Nazi propoganda in Germany). it is NOT in the same league as that in China and North Korea.

    d) This (and by this, I mean blocking the original 20 sites, not the whole of blogspot, etc) is ALSO different from the US govt's reaction after 9/11. There was no attempt to use temporary public anger to justify aggression, infact quite the opposite - the govt. has tried to defuse such tensions and ensure sanity prevails.

  7. Democracy != freedom, but it sure makes it easier. by Vellmont · · Score: 4, Interesting

    In a previously highly rated post a reader claimed that democracy doesn't guarantee freedom. From a strict standpoint, he's absolutely right. But democracy makes freedom MUCH easier to attain since in general people want freedom and not opression. I think this reversal of the policy nicely illustrates that. As several others have pointed out, contrast this with a country like China where there's no democracy, and the government keeps a tight grip on its citizens. It's like the addage that money doesn't buy happiness, but the corollary is that it makes it whole lot easier.

    --
    AccountKiller
  8. Legitimate Ban by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Either people aren't reading the article or are completely oblivious to recent events.

    Trains in Mumbai (Bombay) were recently bombed in what many people suspect was an act of Islamist terrorism to further the separation/Islamistization of Kashmir.

    The blogs in question were inciting violence against India's muslim population in response to the train attacks. The blocking of these blogs were done to prevent the incitement of retalliatory attacks and to prevent the issue from escalating into an unmanageble situation like what is currently happening in Israel/Lebanon. I for one think this is the only legitimate use of censorship and applaud the Indian government for its foresight and action.

    Many people fail to realize that India is not only the world's largest democracy and for the most part has a responsible government. Unfortunately, India too often gets lumped in with the Islamist extremests to the west (of India) or the Communist despots to the east (of India).

  9. (all) blogs were never banned by nileshbansal · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Govt of India never banned all blogs. After terrorist attack in Mumbai, 22 sites were ordered to be blocked to prevent communal hatred and riots. The order was misinterpreted by ISPs who blocked blogspot.com (this was just a mistake).

    I am against all kind of govt censoring (including this). But this ban should not be compared to one in China. The two are fundamentally different as India is a democracy and Indian Constitution provides freedom of expression. But this ban was not unconstitutional as freedom of expression does not allow one to spread opinions of hatred.