New Internet regulation in India food for thought

A move by the Indian government to regulate the Internet has sparked quite some controversy. Critics warn the new law could de facto curtail freedom of speech in the world's largest democracy.

The Indian governement has made amendments to the Information Technology Act, which came into effect last month. New provisions in the law are worded in quite open terms, making them suitable to apply to the fast changing technoogical reality of today. In the new regulatory framework, the Indians put the responsibility of policing online content on Internet service providers (ISPs), bloggers, Internet companies and other parties managing a website, including social networking sites.

The rules require ISPs to remove 'objectionable', 'disparaging', 'harassing', 'blasphemous' and 'hateful' content. They also have to put up terms-of-service agreements with users and remove objectionable content within 36 hours of being notified by the authorities, or risk civil and criminal proceedings.

With 81 million Indians online, a number that is expected to increase to an estimated 237 million by 2015, this new approach to regulating the internet should not be overlooked. Especially the 36-hour rule to remove content without notifying its originator is remarkable, as it might lead to a culture of self—censoring by for example bloggers. Rules on 'objectionable' content curtail freedom of speech, say detractors, as it seems the notice and takedown procedure is initiated by governement authorities, rather than private parties that suffer from copyright infringement or economical harm.

However, government officials emphasize these rules are comparable to others in the world. Probably they had the American DMCA law on copyright protection in mind, which is indeed quite tough on enforcement. The regulatory framework should ideally help protect creative achievements on Internet, the online platforms and people's abilities to access information. A spokesman from the ministry of communications and information technology said: "The rules only specify those things that should not be online. There is nothing like a gag order. These are comparable to any international cyber laws." 

References: Nirmala Ganapathy (The Straits Times), Daily India, Techdirt