The new IT rules violate the right to freedom of speech and expression New media has come to play a major role in the process of opinion making, as was evident in the recent Arab uprisings and the campaign against corruption in India. It is a means of propaganda and a tool for mobilising the masses. The strength of new media lies in the opportunity for creative participation that it offers...
More »SEARCH RESULT
Anti-internet censorship protests gather steam-Jayadevan PK
BANGALORE: Protests against government's alleged attempt to govern the internet is gathering steam, with a public interest litigation in Kerala, a signature campaign and mass protests in Karnataka besides the political left throwing its weight behinds demand to withdraw the recently amended laws. The new rules, adopted last year, regulates reader's comments on online articles, user-posted videos, blogs, photos and posts on online social networks such as Facebook or Orkut. Opponents...
More »Fresh fire at social networks
-The Telegraph The Press Council chairman today joined the chorus for a leash on the social media, citing how a sleaze video featuring Congress MP Abhishek Singhvi had been uploaded on YouTube despite a court injunction. Former Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju wrote to I&B minister Ambika Soni to raise a team of legal and technical experts to check “this menace” and, if necessary, frame a law to filter out “offensive material”. Union...
More »Don't shoot the messenger
-The Hindu The outcome of the Press Council of India's decision to challenge the Allahabad High Court gag order on reporting the movement of troops will be an acid test of how far the judiciary can go in curbing media freedoms. The court's order — which directed senior officials in the Home and I&B departments of the Centre and the Uttar Pradesh government to ensure that no news on the subject...
More »The Censor Bench-Arun Jaitley
Judicial gag orders are as abhorrent as executive restraints on the media Some interim orders issued by the courts have restrained publication or comment on certain matters of public importance. Orders imposing judicial censorship on the media have been extremely rare. Except in the rarest of rare cases, judicial “gag orders” are as abhorrent as executive restraints on the media. The changed situation calls for a comment on these judicial orders and...
More »