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                                      India's Supreme Court Axes Online Censorship Law, But Challenges Remain 
                                     
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                                        by
                                            
                                              Subhashish Panigrahi
                                            
                                        
                                        
                                            
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                                                published
                                              
                                              Mar 27, 2015
                                            
                                            
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                                                last modified
                                              
                                              Mar 27, 2015 02:38 AM
                                            
                                        
                                        
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                                          filed under:
                                          
                                            IT Act,
                                          
                                          
                                            Censorship,
                                          
                                          
                                            Freedom of Speech and Expression,
                                          
                                          
                                            Internet Governance,
                                          
                                          
                                            Chilling Effect
                                          
                                        
                                      
                                      
The Supreme Court of India took a remarkable step to protect free expression on March 24, 2015, striking down controversial section 66A of the IT Act that criminalized “grossly offensive” content online. In response to a public interest litigation filed by Indian law student Shreya Singhal, the court made this landmark judgement calling the section “vague”, “broad” and “unconstitutional”. Since Tuesday's announcement, the news has trended nationally on Twitter, with more than 50,000 tweets bearing the hashtags #Sec66A and #66A.
                                      
                                          
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                                      What 66A Judgment Means For Free Speech Online
                                     
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                                        by
                                            
                                              Geetha Hariharan
                                            
                                        
                                        
                                            
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                                                published
                                              
                                              Mar 27, 2015
                                            
                                            
                                        
                                        
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                                          filed under:
                                          
                                            IT Act,
                                          
                                          
                                            Censorship,
                                          
                                          
                                            Freedom of Speech and Expression,
                                          
                                          
                                            Internet Governance,
                                          
                                          
                                            Chilling Effect
                                          
                                        
                                      
                                      
This week India's Supreme Court redefined the boundaries of freedom of speech on the internet. With the Court's decision in Shreya Singhal & Ors. v. Union of India, Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, has been struck down in entirety and is no longer good law.
                                      
                                          
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                                      SC has set a high threshold for tolerance: Lawrence Liang
                                    
 
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                                        by
                                            
                                              Prasad Krishna
                                            
                                        
                                        
                                            
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                                                published
                                              
                                              Mar 28, 2015
                                            
                                            
                                        
                                        
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                                          filed under:
                                          
                                            IT Act,
                                          
                                          
                                            Censorship,
                                          
                                          
                                            Freedom of Speech and Expression,
                                          
                                          
                                            Internet Governance,
                                          
                                          
                                            Chilling Effect
                                          
                                        
                                      
                                      
Lawyer-activist Lawrence Liang on why SC upheld section 69A and the implications of striking down section 66A.
                                      
                                          
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                                      66A DEAD. LONG LIVE 66A!
                                    
 
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                                        by
                                            
                                              Prasad Krishna
                                            
                                        
                                        
                                            
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                                                published
                                              
                                              Mar 28, 2015
                                            
                                            
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                                                last modified
                                              
                                              Apr 01, 2015 02:11 AM
                                            
                                        
                                        
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                                          filed under:
                                          
                                            IT Act,
                                          
                                          
                                            Censorship,
                                          
                                          
                                            Freedom of Speech and Expression,
                                          
                                          
                                            Internet Governance,
                                          
                                          
                                            Chilling Effect
                                          
                                        
                                      
                                      
Last Tuesday, Twitter CEO Dick Costolo walked into Prime Minister Narendra Modi's office. India's most compulsive and most-followed tweeter, Modi, as Gujarat chief minister, had protested when the Manmohan Singh government blocked the micro-blogging site of a few journalists. Modi had blacked out his own Twitter profile and tweeted: “May God give good sense to everyone.”
                                      
                                          
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                                      If you thought India is a country where freedom of speech and expression are fundamental rights, think twice!
                                    
 
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                                        by
                                            
                                              Prasad Krishna
                                            
                                        
                                        
                                            
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                                                published
                                              
                                              Mar 17, 2015
                                            
                                            
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                                                last modified
                                              
                                              Apr 04, 2015 03:52 PM
                                            
                                        
                                        
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                                          filed under:
                                          
                                            Freedom of Speech and Expression,
                                          
                                          
                                            Internet Governance,
                                          
                                          
                                            Censorship
                                          
                                        
                                      
                                      
Having contributed significantly in growing pollution and corruption indices, there's one place where India seems to hold the top spot is: imposing restrictions on social media contents. There have been over 5,800 restriction requests recorded in the second half of 2014, as per Facebook's Government Requests Report. 
                                      
                                          
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                                      The Supreme Court Judgment in Shreya Singhal and What It Does for Intermediary Liability in India?
                                     
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                                        by
                                            
                                              Jyoti Panday
                                            
                                        
                                        
                                            
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                                                published
                                              
                                              Apr 11, 2015
                                            
                                            
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                                                last modified
                                              
                                              Apr 17, 2015 11:59 PM
                                            
                                        
                                        
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                                          filed under:
                                          
                                            IT Act,
                                          
                                          
                                            Censorship,
                                          
                                          
                                            Freedom of Speech and Expression,
                                          
                                          
                                            Internet Governance,
                                          
                                          
                                            Intermediary Liability,
                                          
                                          
                                            Chilling Effect
                                          
                                        
                                      
                                      
Even as free speech advocates and users celebrate the Supreme Court of India's landmark judgment striking down Section 66A of the Information Technology Act of 2000, news that the Central government has begun work on drafting a new provision to replace the said section of the Act has been trickling in.
                                      
                                          
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                                      Google Policy Fellowship Programme: Call for Applications
                                     
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                                        by
                                            
                                              Prasad Krishna
                                            
                                        
                                        
                                            
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                                                published
                                              
                                              May 24, 2012
                                            
                                            
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                                                last modified
                                              
                                              May 24, 2012 03:38 PM
                                            
                                        
                                        
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                                          filed under:
                                          
                                            Access to Knowledge,
                                          
                                          
                                            Freedom of Speech and Expression,
                                          
                                          
                                            Public Accountability,
                                          
                                          
                                            Internet Governance,
                                          
                                          
                                            Research,
                                          
                                          
                                            Telecom,
                                          
                                          
                                            Intermediary Liability,
                                          
                                          
                                            Censorship,
                                          
                                          
                                            Openness
                                          
                                        
                                      
                                      
The Centre for Internet & Society (CIS) is inviting applications for the Google Policy Fellowship programme. Google is providing a USD 7,500 stipend to the India Fellow, who will be selected by August 15, 2012.
                                      
                                          
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                                      Should the censors tighten Savita Bhabhi’s hook?*
                                    
 
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                                        by
                                            
                                              Prasad Krishna
                                            
                                        
                                        
                                            
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                                                published
                                              
                                              May 02, 2012
                                            
                                            
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                                                last modified
                                              
                                              May 02, 2012 06:31 AM
                                            
                                        
                                        
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                                          filed under:
                                          
                                            Freedom of Speech and Expression,
                                          
                                          
                                            Censorship
                                          
                                        
                                      
                                      
"Should the censors tighten Savita Bhabhi's hook, asks a blog entry published in Churumuri on May 1, 2012.
                                      
                                          
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                                      Scared by a spoof? You’ve got to be kidding me!
                                    
 
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                                        by
                                            
                                              Prasad Krishna
                                            
                                        
                                        
                                            
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                                                published
                                              
                                              Jun 05, 2012
                                            
                                            
                                        
                                        
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                                          filed under:
                                          
                                            Internet Governance,
                                          
                                          
                                            Censorship
                                          
                                        
                                      
                                      
Whether it is Mamata Banerjee's recent crackdown on a comic strip or the new legal guidelines that allow touchy readers to have objectionable content taken down, what you say online is under scrutiny. What, then, will happen to news satire websites?
                                      
                                          
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                                      Decline in web freedom steepest in India: Report
                                    
 
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                                        by
                                            
                                              Prasad Krishna
                                            
                                        
                                        
                                            
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                                                published
                                              
                                              Oct 03, 2013
                                            
                                            
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                                                last modified
                                              
                                              Oct 24, 2013 03:50 AM
                                            
                                        
                                        
                                          —
                                          filed under:
                                          
                                            Freedom of Speech and Expression,
                                          
                                          
                                            Internet Governance,
                                          
                                          
                                            Censorship
                                          
                                        
                                      
                                      
In a report on the state of internet in 60 countries, Freedom House, a US-based organization, said that in 2013 India saw the "most significant year-on-year decline" in terms of the web freedom.
                                      
                                          
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