Slashdot Mirror
Outrage In India Over Arrests For Facebook Posts
concealment sends in an AP report about an uproar in India over citizens arrested for their Facebook remarks. Quoting:
"As India's financial capital shut down for the weekend funeral of a powerful politician linked to waves of mob violence, a woman posted on Facebook that the closures in Mumbai were 'due to fear, not due to respect.' A friend of hers hit the 'like' button. For that, both women were arrested. Analysts and the media are slamming the Maharashtra state government for what they said was a flagrant misuse of the law and an attempt to curb freedom of expression. The arrests were seen as a move by police to prevent any outbreak of violence by supporters of Bal Thackeray, a powerful Hindu fundamentalist politician who died Saturday."
Slashdot is becoming a long list of arrests by the state for political speech on social media. The sad news is that there is so much to report. Keep bringing it to light /.
I'm from the region. FWIW that post had nothing to do with religion and Shiv Sena are a chauvinistic bunch of goons in the guise of politicians who are against everything and everyone who is not a native of their state irrespective of religion. They pander to the lowest common denominator and frequently vandalize all around the state and force city shutdowns with political clout and blatant violence. Unfortunately even the Central government has been responsible for similar arrests and attempts to curb free speech and expression in the recent past.