Скачать или смотреть Press Briefing: What’s happening in India’s online space? Combatting an epidemic of censorship

Online censorship in India is constantly evolving. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated a shift online, then a virulent wave of the virus this year sent many Indians to the internet in search of essential resources such as oxygen cylinders, intensive care beds, and vaccines. The unprecedented surge in online activity called for greater protection of users’ rights on the internet. But that’s not what the people of India got, and today we are witnessing authorities continue to tighten the grip on online space.

In February 2021, the government implemented new intermediary rules under the Information Technology Act — ringing alarm bells, and seeing challenges in courts. The rules carry dangerous provisions that jeopardize privacy and freedom of expression, and come against a repressive backdrop of social media censorship where posts related to COVID-19 relief efforts, volunteering initiatives, and government criticism, are being taken down without notice or explanation. It is getting increasingly difficult for journalists to do their job.

This press briefing brought together human rights experts from India, and the world, to provide insight, explore solutions to strengthen advocacy, unpack the layers of policy implications, and outline exactly what these ever-changing oppressive measures mean for human rights in India, and the region.

David Kaye, Clinical Professor of Law, University of California, Irvine; former U.N. Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression
Gayatri Khandhadai, Lawyer, Association for Progressive Communications (APC)
Sushant Sinha, Founder of Indian Kanoon
Siddharth Varadarajan, Founder and Editor at the Wire, and member of the Digital News Publishers Association