Facing trial over “objectionable content”, social networking websites Google India and Facebook India today sought to invoke their right to freedom of speech and expression before the Delhi High Court and contended that a “casual” approach by a magisterial court had unjustifiably put them in the dock. Responding to the judge’s remark at the last date of hearing that the court would have to block websites like in China if “such...

-The Hindustan Times   The Delhi High Court will hear the petition filed by Google and Facebook challenging the trial court's order to prosecute them for objectionable content. Google, Facebook and 19 other social networking sites faced legal action for offences of promoting enmity between classes after the government granted sanction to prosecute them on Friday. On Thursday, while refusing to stay criminal proceedings against social networking site Facebook India and search engine Google...

A desperate state is making Maoists out of innocents Arun Ferreira smiles easily. The four years and eight months of incarceration, as an alleged Naxalite/Maoist, sit lightly on the 40-year-old quintessential Bandra boy. Released on January 5 from Nagpur Central Jail—acquitted in 10 of the 11 cases and bailed in one—Ferreira is taking his time to readjust to his life with family and friends in Mumbai. He must build anew...

-The Indian Express   After a Delhi trial court summoned the executives of 21 companies, including Google and Facebook, the Delhi high court responded to their petitions by warning them to take down “objectionable” material, or risk being “blocked” altogether. In Justice Suresh Kait’s words: “You must have a stringent check. Otherwise, like China, we may pass orders banning all such websites.” The government, which was asked to indicate if it agreed...

Without equality, democracy and Social Justice, which are three interrelated factors, secularism cannot exist as a positive value in society. I HAVE known Prof. Romila Thapar for about 45 years, most of it as a colleague at the Centre for Historical Studies of Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Romila, as she is called by almost everybody – from her eight-year-old grandnephew to all of us present here – had helped to...