Slashdot Mirror
India OKs Censoring Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Yahoo
An anonymous reader writes "An Indian court given the green light for the prosecution of '21 social networking sites.' The list features 10 foreign-based companies, and could affect websites provided by Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and YouTube. The recent development is part of an ongoing argument between the companies and India over whether content should be regulated (read: censored) in the country. The approval was actually made on December 23, 2011, but was only revealed yesterday. India warned these websites it can block them just like China can."
Look, unless they filter and censor every single email, text, data stream ect... it is a complete lost cause. This will just spur innovation in finding methods to avoid the censors such as seen in China.
To prevent public outrage caused by India's current cricket scores
It's crazy that slashdot and other people have some notion of western free speech that is universal and ingrained in human nature.
Why is it so strange that other people in other places might have a different idea than you about censorship?
Really, if you are not Indian, it doesn't concern you. Stay out of other people's internal affairs.
I personally feel we can butt in to another countries business if they are violating basic human rights. As we all live on the same planet there are some base level standards and the rest of the world should intervene when those lines are crossed.
Now that said, is free speech a basic right? Perhaps, but internet use sure isn't.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
Sure, let Indians have their say, but don't expect us to shut up and mind our own business. The world is far too small for that now. I'm pretty sure many Indians don't agree with you.
Each region will censor social sites then no doubt create their own sites leaving no truly World wide social sites, perhaps even so far as to create walled gardens for each region with little crosstalk in social, commerce, or informational sites.
"If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
Really, if you are not Indian, it doesn't concern you. Stay out of other people's internal affairs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came%E2%80%A6
First they came for the communists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak out because I was Protestant.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me.
Really, if you are not Indian, it doesn't concern you. Stay out of other people's internal affairs.
If I saw my neigbour abusing his wife, I'd probably call the police and not claim that it's "someone else's internal affair". If there are people there in India who suffer for some reason, you can't expect me to feel indifferent.
Ezekiel 23:20
Anonymous Coward wrote:
"It's crazy that slashdot and other people have some notion of western free speech that is universal and ingrained in human nature. Why is it so strange that other people in other places might have a different idea than you about censorship? Really, if you are not Indian, it doesn't concern you. Stay out of other people's internal affairs."
I'm Indian - who the hell are you to speak for all of us, and tell others not to comment? Anyone can comment on anything they like. It's called Freedom, and you seem to be ignorant of the concept. You wouldn't happen to be a Supreme Court Justice, would you? Why don't you post under your real name, instead of as an Anonymous Coward?
In police states like Pakistan and China, the courts are used to harass and suppress political opponents. Now you'd like that to happen in India, too. And you're defending this by manufacturing some kind of pretext based on cultural differences?
Get stuffed and get lost.
Only difference is that the Indians aren't clever enough to create terms like SOPA/PIPA such that the common public is blissfully unaware of what's happening.
Civil society in India agitating against corruption in 2011 made use of social networking and SMS's to mobilize large crowd Janlokpal
The party in power has been attacking every communication medium used by the agitators since. Sending of bulk SMS's was prohibited immediately after their agitation in august/Sept SMS. Phone network was down in mumbai during their protest meet in December. Their Facebook page was removed in Sept/Oct.
At a particular time during the August agitation the government was virtually under siege in Dehli with peaceful protesters turning up in front of the parliament and parliamentarian's house in large number. Requiring the government to shut down train stops and bus services to prevent protesters from gathering at the hotspots.
The attack against Facebook, Orkut, SMS etc. is the response of the party in power. They are attacking the communication medium used by protesters under one pretext or other.
To Share Is To care
Everytime a site hears a government say, "we should censor [insert website here]", they should respond with an immediate blanket ip block on the addresses for the government in that country. Google, Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, Bing all should have blocked the IP addresses of the U.S. government as soon as they mentioned they were forming bills to sensor them.
Having to work for a living is the root of all evil.
So you are saying slashdot is US ONLY?
Issues relating to other countries should not be discussed here?
Perhaps you should have seen India in the title and not opened the article itself?
Using this same logic, if your neighbour is brutally beating his kids you just think that's their problem and other people should mind their own business? Countries are just lines on a map. We're all human, and we should stand up for one another against abuses like this no matter where they occur.
Space game using normal deck of cards: http://BattleCards.org
The summary is stupid, but that's to be expected, I guess...
This is not from the government; I'm sure they'd try, but they'd just not be able to get the appropriate legislation passed and implemented. Not because Parliament wouldn't want it, but because they'd probably just end up delaying for another couple of years, bouncing it around committees and then go into election mode. In any case, the government infrastructure for this kind of censorship, especially of the internet, is just not there.
A few years ago, they tried to block Yahoo groups, on the basis that there were seditious groups on there. That lasted all of 24 hours! The public outcry, combined with the total impossibility of actually enforcing the ban, made them back down. It didn't work then, and it won't work now.
More to the point, as I said earlier, this is NOT the government. It's an activist judge in the Delhi High Court, which has NO POWERS over the rest of the country. In fact, given that this would violate a large portion of the fundamental rights section of the constitution, I'm pretty sure the Supreme Court would strike it down. With extreme prejudice!
I doubt that this case will really proceed. Right now, it's one judge making stupid off-the-cuff remarks, not giving a judgement. More to the point, a judgement is not policy, and enforcement is a whole other ball game. It's out of the court's powers, and there's no mechanism in the government for it.