Internet Freedom Foundation defends online freedom, privacy and innovation in India.

Born out of the SaveTheInternet.in movement for net neutrality, IFF works on a range of issues including net neutrality, free expression, privacy and innovation.

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Blogposts

WhatTheBlock

Delhi HC orders MeitY to give copy of ban order and hearing to Mr Tanul Thakur for banning his website #WhatTheBlock

Tanul Thakur's satirical website dowrycalculator.com was blocked without giving him a copy of the blocking order or an opportunity to be heard. On 11th May 2022, the Delhi High Court Court directed MeitY to provide Tanul Thakur a copy of the blocking order and give him a post-decisional hearing.
16 May, 2022
4 min read
Amala DasarathiAmala Dasarathi
sedition

In a petition filed by the Journalist Union of Assam, Supreme Court directs governments to not use Section 124A

tl;dr It is official. The Supreme Court has stayed the operation of Section 124-A [https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1641007/]of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (‘IPC’) which criminalises speech that excites or attempts to excite ‘disaffection, hatred or contempt’ against the Government established by law. Through its interim order [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1l7VXeIh09ZaGS_Ri1JDGJ3b_QookPW2l/view?usp=sharing] dated May 11, 2022 (‘Order’), which goes a long way in protecting the freedom of speech
11 May, 2022
6 min read
Krishnesh BapatKrishnesh Bapat & Anandita MishraAnandita Mishra
PrivacyofThePeople

#PrivacyofthePeople: Random phone checks by the Police

In the latest post in our #PrivacyofthePeople series, we look at whether the police can randomly check your phone is you have not consented to it.
10 May, 2022
6 min read
Anushka JainAnushka Jain
IT Rules

Supreme Court stays proceedings before High Courts challenging IT Rules, 2021, interim orders to continue

Transfer petitions filed by the Union of India, in respect of challenges across High Courts to the IT Rules, 2021 were heard. The Supreme Court stayed proceedings in the IT Rules challenges before HCs, but not on any orders passed by the HCs in these IT Rules challenges
09 May, 2022
3 min read
Amala DasarathiAmala Dasarathi & Tanmay SinghTanmay Singh
transparency

Digital Transparency: A Right to Information Report for April 2022

For the month of April 2022, IFF has filed 40 RTI requests.
06 May, 2022
4 min read
Gyan TripathiGyan Tripathi
cybersecurity

CERT-In Directions on Cybersecurity: An Explainer

On April 28, 2022, CERT-In issued directions aimed at strengthening India's cybersecurity. Issued without public consultations, these directions raise concerns related to state sponsored surveillance and data retention beyond need or purpose. We thus call on CERT-In to recall these directions.
05 May, 2022
8 min read
Tejasi PanjiarTejasi Panjiar, Anushka JainAnushka Jain & Prateek WaghrePrateek Waghre

Board level changes at IFF

We note  that Raman Jit Singh Chima, a seasoned policy professional and a global expert on digital rights, stepped down from his role as a Trustee from April 24, 2022. Raman has been our colleague serving side by side helping IFF’s growth from the very beginning. His contribution to SaveTheInternet.in since 2015 and IFF since 2017 has been indispensable and we would like to thank him. We look forward to future collaboration and share his hope that as a young organization we can improve our delib
30 April, 2022
1 min read
Shivani SinghShivani Singh
RTI

Revealed: MeitY blocked 6096 URLs and 347 applications in 2021 but held less than 40 hearings

In reply to an RTI, MeitY has accepted that it blocked 6096 URLs and 347 applications in 2021 but held less than 40 hearings. MeitY refused to disclose the number of requests it received to block content and stated that it did not maintain data on how many content creators were granted a hearing.
23 April, 2022
5 min read
Krishnesh BapatKrishnesh Bapat

Statement on Repeated Internet Shutdowns in Various States in Response to Violence

> > > > Internet shutdowns are becoming the government's routine response to communal clashes and violence. State governments and union territories have been issuing internet suspension orders in derogation of the letter and spirit of the Anuradha Bhasin directions and the applicable law. Suspension of the internet, even temporarily, adversely impacts the fundamental rights of the people of India. Therefore, an internet suspension order must follow due process of law. IFF will write to Ch
19 April, 2022
3 min read
Anandita MishraAnandita Mishra
compliance

#SocialMediaComplianceWatch: analysis of Social Media Compliance Reports for the month of February 2022

> > > > tl;dr Google (including YouTube), Koo, Meta (Facebook and Instagram), ShareChat, Snap, Twitter and WhatsApp have released their reports in compliance with Rule 4(1)(d) of the IT Rules 2021 for the month of February, 2022. The latest of these was published by WhatsApp and was published on April 1, 2022. The reports contain similar shortcomings, which exhibit lack of effort on the part of the social media intermediaries and the government to further transparency and accountability in
16 April, 2022
11 min read
Anandita MishraAnandita Mishra

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Campaigns & Projects

The Digital Patrakar Defence Clinic provides pro bono legal assistance to all journalists in India who face legal threats related to their reporting.

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IFF’s Project Panoptic aims to bring transparency and accountability to the relevant government stakeholders involved in the deployment and implementation of facial recognition technology (FRT) projects in India.

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#SaveOurPrivacy is an online collective launched in May, 2018 to safeguard your privacy and ensure a citizen centric data protection law.

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The ‘Zombie Tracker’ is a platform which monitors cases which include a charge under Section 66A of the Information Technology Act 2000 which was deemed unconstitutional by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in Shreya Singhal v Union of India.

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