Catergory

Censorship

Twitter

Karnataka High Court Finds MeitY’s Blocking Orders Compatible with IT Act, Exemplary Costs for Non-Compliance Imposed on Twitter

On June 30, 2023, the Karnataka High Court in X Corp. v. Union of India, while dismissing Twitter Inc.’s challenge to the Blocking Orders issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology’s (“MeitY”) under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (“IT Act”),
01 July, 2023
7 min read
Radhika RoyRadhika Roy
internet shutdowns

IFF wrote to Manipur State Authorities on the ongoing digital rights violations

June 22 marked 50 days of Manipur's ongoing state-wide internet shutdown. In wake of this shutdown, we have written to the Chief Secretary of Manipur, the Director General of Police, Manipur and other local authorities highlighting our concerns.
24 June, 2023
5 min read
Gayatri MalhotraGayatri Malhotra
IT Rules

Bombay HC orders the IT Ministry to disclose the factual background that necessitated the IT Rules Amendment

The Bombay High Court has directed MeitY to file its response within one week on why the IT Amendment Rules, 2023 should not be stayed, and also describe the factual background that necessitated the issuance of the amendments.
11 April, 2023
4 min read
Tanmay SinghTanmay Singh & Gayatri MalhotraGayatri Malhotra
internet shutdowns

Statement on Digital Censorship in Punjab

The Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) is alarmed by the illegal censorship continuing in the State of Punjab.
28 March, 2023
2 min read
Tanmay SinghTanmay Singh
BBCDocumentary

Censorship, Surveys, and Seizures: Developments around the BBC Documentary

The MIB banned re-sharing & uploading of links of the BBC Documentary using emergency powers under the IT Rules, 2021. The Income Tax Department carried out 3 day long survey operations at the BBC India offices in Delhi & Mumbai. We elaborate on our concerns with these actions in this post.
03 March, 2023
7 min read
Tejasi PanjiarTejasi Panjiar & Prateek WaghrePrateek Waghre
Censorship

Kerala High Court protects the right to access court records

Kerala HC has ruled that 'right to be forgotten' is not absolute and that it is inconsistent with the principle of open courts.
10 January, 2023
4 min read
Gayatri MalhotraGayatri Malhotra
Public Brief

A public brief on the IT Amendment Rules, 2022 a.k.a ‘how the government is trying to moderate online speech’

MeitY notified the amendments to the IT Rules, 2021 on October 28, 2022. In light of the concerns raised by the notified amendments around the freedom of speech and expression of users, we are publishing our Public Brief on the IT Amendment Rules, 2022.
10 November, 2022
10 min read
Tejasi PanjiarTejasi Panjiar & Prateek WaghrePrateek Waghre
Censorship

VideoLAN has issued a legal notice to DoT and MeitY for banning their website in India

VideoLAN’s URL from which users download the VLC Media Player appears to have been banned by the DoT in India since March 2021. This was done without any prior notice, or affording VideoLAN an opportunity of hearing, which is contrary to the Indian law.
04 October, 2022
4 min read
Anandita MishraAnandita Mishra
Censorship

In proceedings before CIC, IFF obtains website censorship orders from DoT and MTNL

We appealed to the Central Information Commission (‘CIC’), which held hearings on both the RTIs on 20.09.2022. Before the hearing, MTNL reconsidered its stance and informed us that they had blocked 4700 websites in 2020-21. CIC directed DoT to provide copies of the banning orders from 2020-21.
03 October, 2022
4 min read
Tanmay SinghTanmay Singh & Krishnesh BapatKrishnesh Bapat
Censorship

DoT starts publishing court orders for online censorship #WhatTheBlock

We wrote to the DoT to appreciate their proactiveness in publishing the blocking notifications under court orders and urged them to ensure that executive blocking orders are made publicly available.
01 June, 2022
4 min read
Gyan TripathiGyan Tripathi & Tanmay SinghTanmay Singh

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