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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Updates

2023 year in review

2023 Year in Review: Legal Initiatives Propel Progress in Digital Rights

IFF’s Litigation Team has been working tirelessly to address important digital rights issues, such as internet shutdowns, mandatory imposition of Aarogya Setu, illegal website blocking, search and seizure of digital devices, unlawful surveillance and spying, and use of facial recognition technology.
29 December, 2023
10 min read
Radhika RoyRadhika Roy
year in review

2023 Year in Review: Digital Transparency keeps public institutions accountable

In 2023, IFF's transparency vertical filed 295 RTI applications, 66 first appeals, and 2 second appeals this year in order to open vital information up for public view and discussion.
28 December, 2023
16 min read
Disha VermaDisha Verma
year in review

2023 Year in Review: Policy interventions for impact

In 2023, the policy team at IFF participated in 9 consultations, sent 61 letters, authored 16 statements and public briefs, organised several briefing calls and events, launched new projects and expanded existing ones, and continued tracking digital rights developments in the Parliament.
27 December, 2023
18 min read
Tejasi PanjiarTejasi Panjiar & Disha VermaDisha Verma
Parliament

Winter Session 2023: A Digital Rights Review

The Winter Session concluded on December 21, 2023. 19 bills were passed by both Houses, including several key legislations, namely, the Telecommunications Bill, 2023 and the three criminal reform bills. We assess how our Parliament performed from a digital rights perspective.
26 December, 2023
6 min read
Tejasi PanjiarTejasi Panjiar
criminal law

Reforming (or deforming?) the criminal justice system: A digital rights overview of the three new criminal law Bills

The Parliament has passed three new bills that overhaul our criminal justice system: Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita, Bharatiya Sakshya (Second) Bill, and Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha (Second) Sanhita. We look at how they affect digital rights and freedoms.
23 December, 2023
10 min read
Disha VermaDisha Verma & Radhika RoyRadhika Roy
Telecom

First Read: The Telecom Bill, 2023 is on Santa's evil list

The Telecom Bill, 2023, much like the 2022 one, continues to hang on to the colonial provisions of its 1885 predecessor it purportedly aims to overhaul. It misses a huge opportunity to reform the telecom sector and create a rights-centric law that protects user rights instead of infringing on it.
20 December, 2023
11 min read
Tejasi PanjiarTejasi Panjiar & Prateek WaghrePrateek Waghre
seizure

Union Government assures the SC that Procedure in CBI Manual will be followed in Search and Seizure of Digital Devices before Guidelines are formalised

On December 14, 2023, the Union Government assured the court that Union agencies will duly follow the procedures laid down in the 2020 CBI (Crime) Manual on Digital Evidence till final guidelines on search and seizure of digital devices were formalised.
18 December, 2023
4 min read
Radhika RoyRadhika Roy
internet shutdowns

Supreme Court refuses to hear Miscellaneous Application seeking compliance with internet shutdown guidelines laid out in the Anuradha Bhasin Judgement

In May 2023, the Supreme Court was pleased to issue a notice, and in Sept 2023, the court granted the UoI, the liberty to file a response. However, on Dec 7 the Supreme Court was not inclined to hear the matter. Consequently, the Miscellaneous Application was dismissed as withdrawn.
13 December, 2023
3 min read
Gayatri MalhotraGayatri Malhotra
Broadcast Bill

Dear MIB, kill the bill and #LetUsChill: Our comments on the Broadcasting Bill, 2023

The Broadcasting Bill, 2023 may soon allow the government to censor streaming shows and news analysis by journalists. Join the campaign #LetUsChill and write to MIB using our template response in just a few steps.
07 December, 2023
4 min read
Tejasi PanjiarTejasi Panjiar & Prateek WaghrePrateek Waghre
dark patterns

Jago online market entities jago! A look at how the revised Dark Patterns Guidelines attempt digital consumer protection

The Ministry of Consumer Affairs has swung for a boundary in its attempt to regulate and penalise dark patterns in the Indian market. We examine what these new innings mean for user rights, and if the regulation is robust enough to bowl out nefarious dark patterns.
06 December, 2023
7 min read
Disha VermaDisha Verma

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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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