Indian Government Lifts Ban on Blogs

iDope writes "The Department of Telecommunications of the Government of India has lifted the ban on blogs (reported previously on Slashdot) following pressure from the Indian blogger community and the media. Even with the lifting of the ban several bloggers from BloggersCollective are getting ready to file a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) (similar to a Class Action Lawsuit in US) in the Supreme Court of India against the Government censorship of the Internet."

Great ... now ...

[Guanine]

How about China, with one fifth of the world's population, learns from this and stops censoring their internet, allowing Chinese citizens to fully participate in the online world community?

keep up the coverage :)

[Burlap]

I really hope /. keeps up on the coverage of this story if it goes to court. It would be quite entertaining to see a govt get it's hat handed to them for strongarming their population.

I doubt it

[Silent sound]

What we are seeing here is the difference between a democratic government like India (which has things like elected officals eventually accountable to their constituents and thus amenable to influence by public pressure; and an independent judiciary with the power to check the elected officials if they violate the citizenry's fundamental rights), and a state like China.

Democracies can be imperfect; democracies like India can make mistakes, or do things (like this Blog censorship program) which are wrong. But at least in a democracy, there is some kind of mechanism in place that can be used to eventually fix the mistakes and correct the wrongs. China has no mechanisms in place to correct the wrongs of those in power. And so you can wait, but the wrongs are not going to just go away.

Re:Now that the ban on blogs has been lifted ...

[rovingeyes]

can we get electricity/water/food for all the poor people out there who don't even know what a blog is?

Wow, I have never seen a more rhetorical question from a guy who comes from India and is apparently settled in US (visit his website [tripod.com]). Somehow I feel that you are one of those millions of Indians in US who feels they care about their country and express it in soulless words. If you were all that concerned, you wouldn't be waving racing flags at Nascar races, but instead be in India and help the poor in that country get education or something goddamit.

Legitimate Ban

[Anonymous Coward]

Either people aren't reading the article or are completely oblivious to recent events.

Trains in Mumbai (Bombay) were recently bombed in what many people suspect was an act of Islamist terrorism to further the separation/Islamistization of Kashmir.

The blogs in question were inciting violence against India's muslim population in response to the train attacks. The blocking of these blogs were done to prevent the incitement of retalliatory attacks and to prevent the issue from escalating into an unmanageble situation like what is currently happening in Israel/Lebanon. I for one think this is the only legitimate use of censorship and applaud the Indian government for its foresight and action.

Many people fail to realize that India is not only the world's largest democracy and for the most part has a responsible government. Unfortunately, India too often gets lumped in with the Islamist extremests to the west (of India) or the Communist despots to the east (of India).

Re:So, you can blog, but they'll still censor it.

[Khyber]

You know, I did mod some people, but I'm gonna dump that just so I can say this one word to you.

NO.

Okay, I lied, there are more words. This was a big fubar on the ISP's part, *NOT* the government. Didn't you RTFA? (I actually decided to, for once.)

Re:Now that the ban on blogs has been lifted ...

[Van Cutter Romney]

that's the nth time my big mouth has got me into trouble ... now i'm just going to make wise ass remarks about trivial topics. but since we're in this subject ... what is the total percentage of people in India who actually read blogs? About 2% of the population have access to the Internet in India. I totally agree that "freedom of press" is important, but we don't see that even in the traditional print medium. I'd say this story [indiatimes.com] is more worthy of /.

Re:It's always a ruse

[bombom]

Did you even RTFA? The Govt. asked ISPs to block 17 blogs (not entire blog networks) and even those blogs were not "terrorist" blogs but rather sites inciting reprisals against India's muslim minority for the Bombay bomb blasts last week.

As for "censorship is always bad except ....", except when you think its justified? Paging Dr. Hypocrite.

Re:Legitimate Ban

[iDope]

Are you Indian? If so, I guess you are trying to be patriotic by defending your government. I you are really patriotic, don't trust your government blindly.

The blogs in question were inciting violence against India's muslim population in response to the train attacks.

Do you know that for a fact? Why didn't government inform about thiTill now the government has not even given an explanation on why each of the sites were banned. Couldn't have said it better than this guy (read carefully why this is wrong):

the whole point is that the government has denied us the information we need to arrive at an 'informed opinion' - and that per se is undemocratic. In a democratic nation we don't blindly assume that the government is right. We expect that the government will be transparent and accountable in its actions, especially those that it claims are taken for our benefit. When that doesn't happen, when they lie to the people and to the press, obfuscate the issue and refuse, after days of protest, to provide the information the citizens of the country are demanding, that in itself comprises a blow to democracy.

Let me quote another article, maybe you'll see the light:

None of the sites seem to possess any direct security threat to India, or have any connection with the recent Mumbai blasts. Even more bizarre are the blogs sought to be blocked. 'Princess Kimberley' is a defunct blog with just two postings in 2004 about an American teenager's depressing life. 'Commonfolk Commonsense' is a Chinese language blog, while 'Exposing the Left' is written by someone in Southern Illinois! DoT has not explained why these sites need to be restricted from viewing by Indians.

LIST OF BLOCKED SITES
1. www .hinduunity.org
2. mypetjawa.mu.nu
3. pajamaeditors.blogspot.com
4. exposingtheleft.blogspot.com
5. thepiratescove.us
6. commonfolkcommonsense.blogspot.com
7. bamapachyderm.com
8. princesskimberley.blogspot.com
9. merrimusings.typepad.com
10. mackers-world.com
11. www.dalistan.org
12. www .hinduhumanrights.org/hindufocus.html
13. www .nndh.com
14. bloodroyaltriped.com
15. imagesearchyahoo.com
16. www .imamali8.com
17. www .rahulyadav.com

I oppose any form of censorship on the Internet. Even in case of national security (ok, there might be very rare exceptions). Remember, Internet is not confined to India, it is International. It was designed for free flow of information. It was designed to route around damage. If you are banning some sites you are effectively closing your eyes and burrying your head in the sand. It doesn't make any difference, the information you want banned is still there for the world to see. Those who want to access it, can and will access it one way or the other. Such blocking actually brings them more attention. My point is banning sites on the Internet is stupid. And not only it is stupid, it interferes with our fundamental rights. This may be one of the steps towards what China is doing. I don't want that to happen to India.

Re:Good, they need the manpower...

[mobby_6kl]

Ah, yes. A post about censorship in India under an article about censorship in India. Clearly offtopic.

I don't usually complain about moderation, especially that of my own posts, but WTF?
If you feel you must protect your county no matter what it does, why not reply and explain to me how culturally insensitive I am in thinking that censorship sucks.

If, however, the moderator was on crack or just wasted, please accept my apology and enjoy your experience.

Re:Now that the ban on blogs has been lifted ...

[Anonymous Coward]

Hi,

First, you should not look at the percentage of 1 billion but actual numbers. If 2 million people (or 20 lakhs as we call it) read the blogs, then its lot of people who are affected. Also, you seemed to miss my point. This is not just about blogs. Its a slippery slope when it comes to freedom of press. Yes, blogs are the least influential media and if there is no resistance next will be local cable channel political programs and then governemnt will move up to mainstream news and news papers.

Also I want to state that most of the blogs censored has content and views, that I am dead against. Our news (I belong to a party that supports rationalist viewpoint and is against Hindu fundamentalism) was censored by the last government and this government attepmts to censor the opposing viewpoint. Although I disagree with everything the blog says, I want the opponent to say it as I want to be able to do the same when I am against the ruling party.