Centre for Internet & Society

State of Consumer Digital Security in India

by Pranav M B

This report attempts to identify the existing state of digital safety in India, with a mapping of digital threats, which will aid stakeholders in identifying and addressing digital security problems in the country. This project was funded by the Asia Foundation.

Read more →

Comments on the Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2021

by Tanvi Apte, Anubha Sinha and Torsha Sarkar

In this submission, we examine the constitutionality and legality of the Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2021, which was released by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

Read more →

Community Data and Decisional Autonomy: Dissecting an Indian Legal Innovation for Emerging Economies

by Amber Sinha and Arindrajit Basu

Read this paper configuring community data with Indian constitutional jurisprudence by Amber Sinha and Arindrajit Basu

Read more →

Right to Exclusion, Government Spaces, and Speech

by Torsha Sarkar

The conclusion of the litigation surrounding Trump blocking its critiques on Twitter brings to forefront two less-discussed aspects of intermediary liability: a) if social media platforms could be compelled to ‘carry’ speech under any established legal principles, thereby limiting their right to exclude users or speech, and b) whether users have a constitutional right to access social media spaces of elected officials. This essay analyzes these issues under the American law, as well as draws parallel for India, in light of the ongoing litigation around the suspension of advocate Sanjay Hegde’s Twitter account.

Read more →

At the Heart of Crypto Investing, There is Tether. But Will its Promise Pan Out?

by Aman Nair

The $18.5 million fine levied by the New York attorney general’s office earlier this year to settle a legal dispute, raises more questions than answers.

Read more →

Submission to the Facebook Oversight Board in Case 2021-008-FB-FBR: Brazil, Health Misinformation and Lockdowns

by Tanvi Apte and Torsha Sarkar

In this note, we answer questions set out by the Board, pursuant to case 2021-008-FB-FBR, which concerned a post made by a Brazilian sub-national health official, and raised questions on health misinformation and enforcement of Facebook's community standards.

Read more →

Pandemic Technology takes its Toll on Data Privacy

by Aman Nair and Pallavi Bedi

The absence of any legal framework has meant these tools are now being used for purposes beyond managing the pandemic.

Read more →

On the legality and constitutionality of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021

by Torsha Sarkar, Gurshabad Grover, Raghav Ahooja, Pallavi Bedi and Divyank Katira

This note examines the legality and constitutionality of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. The analysis is consistent with previous work carried out by CIS on issues of intermediary liability and freedom of expression.

Read more →

Does Google’s bid to replace third party cookies with FLOCs protect user privacy?

by Maria Jawed

In its efforts to deprecate third-party cookies, Google, in August 2019, has brought an alternative plan with its new Privacy Sandbox platform. This plan promises to preserve anonymity when serving tailored advertising. While unveiling the system, Google explained that even though advertising is necessary to keep the web available to everyone, the web ecosystem is at risk if privacy policies do not keep pace with evolving expectations. But does this new framework help users in any way?

Read more →