-The Indian Express The debate about Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, is growing heated. As more cases of its abuse surface, even Communications and IT Minister Kapil Sibal has begun to mull changes to the act. The key question to be probed is whether individual actions booked under the provision are isolated instances of abuse or the section itself flawed. For that, we need to first explore how...
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Only by amending IT Act's flawed Section 66A can we stop its misuse
-The Times of India Telecom minister Kapil Sibal says the Information Technology Act shouldn't be misused to "throttle dissent". But is he prepared to go the length to stop misuse? Consider the legal gloss Section 66A of the Act puts on assaults on free expression. Two incidents should suffice as examples. In April, a professor was arrested in Kolkata for forwarding a cartoon depicting Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee. More recently, a...
More »CPM crows at Mamata isolation
-The Telegraph The CPM is visibly enjoying Mamata Banerjee’s political isolation in her push for a no-trust motion and chose to make light of her overtures today, trying to suggest she was out of her depth in national politics. “She has completely misunderstood the issue. The issue is not the government; the issue is policies. Policies have to be reversed. What do you do if another government pursues the same policies?” politburo...
More »Absurd arrests
-The Business Standard IT laws have clauses that can be too easily misused The arrest of two women in Palghar (near Mumbai) for an innocuous Facebook status update is the latest indicator of an increasing intolerance of free speech, especially online. The state has also increased its surveillance. The focus on surveillance and censorship is evident not only in specific instances but also in the statistics. In February, the government said...
More »Chill of hike freeze-Meghdeep Bhattacharyya
-The Telegraph Kolkata: Owners of potato cold storages today announced a day’s shutdown on Monday and threatened a longer agitation to protest the Mamata Banerjee government’s refusal to allow a rent hike. Many officials termed this as another instance of the “populist” government’s reluctance to raise tariffs. “The rent is our only source of income. Overhead costs have spiralled in the past two years. But the government is not allowing us to increase...
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