-The Indian Express The exodus to the Northeast, perhaps the biggest mass displacement in peacetime, reads like the dark side of the Arab Spring or the reverse of a flash mob. The social and SMS media, which accumulate forces for positive change, were leveraged to spread rumours and disperse minorities by the fictitious threat of violence. And the response is totally inadequate. Social media shifted the balance of power from governments and...

The IT (Intermediaries Guidelines) Rules, drafted to protect intermediaries, now appear to be a tool that can be used to harass them. EIGHT years ago, the chief executive officer of an auction portal was put behind bars because a user put an obscene MMS clip up for sale on the site. This sparked a demand from intermediaries, the entities that provide services enabling the delivery of online content to end-users,...

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...

-The Indian Express   The Election Commission ponders the “novel challenge” posed by Anna Hazare and his team, which has vowed to campaign against the Congress in the five states that will hold elections in the near future. According to Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi, this raises questions of “propriety and ethics”. The EC, he said, would watch carefully for any breach of the model code of conduct, for any hate speech...

-PTI Asserting that Team Anna’s proposal to campaign against the Congress in the Assembly elections in five states raised questions of “propriety and ethics”, Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi on Sunday said anything that came in the way of free and fair elections was not acceptable. “We don’t have any problem because in a democracy they have a right to oppose or support anybody. It should not be in violation of...