Centre for Internet & Society

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Technological beasts like Facebook, Orkut, YouTube & Google impossible to control

Technological beasts like Facebook, Orkut, YouTube & Google impossible to control

by Prasad Krishna last modified Dec 13, 2011 03:25 AM

They were places that let you be: to chat with buddies, exchange photos and plan parties. The rules of engagement were loose, voyeurism passed off as curiosity, vanity as sharing and gibes as friendly banter.

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Caught in the Web

Caught in the Web

by Prasad Krishna last modified Dec 12, 2011 03:32 PM

Do we need a cyber Big Brother watching us? A look at both sides of the coin.

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Much at stake for tech sector in UID project

by Prasad Krishna last modified Dec 12, 2011 01:10 PM

With the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance raising a red flag against the National Identification Authority of India ( NIAI) Bill to grant the UID (or Aadhar) project legal status, the project looks set for a slowdown. That could have broad implications for the tech sector that had laid substantial hope on it, especially when global markets are slowing down.

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Online @ India

by Prasad Krishna last modified Dec 12, 2011 07:48 AM

I haven't yet heard of anybody in India going on a rampage because somebody in Pakistan started an 'India hate' page. However, I have seen people kill and destroy because they got incited to violence and hatred through offline religious propaganda, cinema and cricket.

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Online gag:Existing rules give little freedom

by Prasad Krishna last modified Dec 12, 2011 05:42 AM

Even as the controversy over Kapil Sibal's attempt to get internet giants such as Google and Facebook to prescreen user-generated content to weed out 'offensive' material rages, a yet-to-be-published study by Bangalore-based Centre for Internet and Society reveals that rules already in place can have "chilling effects on free expression on the internet".

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Internet, social media access should not be blocked: Ban

by Prasad Krishna last modified Dec 12, 2011 04:16 AM

Amidst a raging controversy over the federal government’s proposal to monitor content in cyber space, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Friday said access to the Internet and various social media must not be blocked as a way to prevent criticism and public debate.

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India entering the Minority Report age?

India entering the Minority Report age?

by Prasad Krishna last modified Dec 10, 2011 06:40 AM

Indian government efforts to block offensive material from the Internet have prompted a storm of online ridicule along with warnings of the risk to India's image as a bastion of free speech.

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Nirmita receives NIVH Award

Nirmita receives NIVH Award

by Prasad Krishna last modified Dec 29, 2011 05:53 AM

Nirmita Narasimhan received the NIVH Excellence Award from Justice AS Anand (retd), former chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, on International Day of Persons with Disabilities at the National Institute for the Visually Handicapped in Dehradun on Saturday, 3 December 2011.

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Google V/s Kapil Sibal

Google V/s Kapil Sibal

by Prasad Krishna last modified Dec 09, 2011 11:12 AM

Mr Kapil Sibal was quoted by the Hindu* today as saying that "he had been left with no choice" because the internet companies "refused to delete incendiary hate-speech."

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India bid to censor Internet draws flak

India bid to censor Internet draws flak

by Prasad Krishna last modified Dec 09, 2011 10:36 AM

Indian government efforts to block offensive material from the Internet have prompted a storm of online ridicule along with warnings of the risk to India's image as a bastion of free speech.

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Los internautas indios se oponen a la censura a través de la Red

by Prasad Krishna last modified Dec 09, 2011 12:25 AM

La idea del Gobierno indio de censurar los contenidos de internet ha chocado con el rechazo de la empresas del sector y de los internautas, que están usando las redes sociales para ridiculizar al ministro

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Phishing Attacks on the Rise

by Prasad Krishna last modified Dec 13, 2011 04:15 PM

It is very difficult to spot a fake website from the real one these days...with all the new technologies to clearly deceive the eyes. However, there are some ways to make the real from the fake ones with the help of two visual cues. Sunil Abraham was on News 9 on December 2, 2011 speaking about two visual cues to distinguish between the fake and the real websites.

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Social media sites refuse Indian censorship request

by Prasad Krishna last modified Dec 08, 2011 08:26 AM

The Indian government's proposal to crack down on offensive internet content has sparked anger among the population.

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Is the govt bid to regulate content on the Internet a good thing?

by Prasad Krishna last modified Dec 08, 2011 07:12 AM

The recent move by Union Minister Kapil Sibal to engage leading Internet platform providers like Google, Facebook, etc in regulating content has seen netizens react in different manners. The question of freedom of expression vis-a-vis objectionable content has come to the fore. Pranesh Prakash who deals with such issues on a regular basis at the Centre for Internet and Society was answering questions (more like comments) live on CNN-IBN's chat feature on December 7, 2011.

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‘Chilling’ Impact of India’s April Internet Rules

by Prasad Krishna last modified Jan 27, 2012 04:32 AM

Kapil Sibal’s demand that Internet companies self-censor users’ content is just the latest move by the Indian government to restrict information on Facebook and other social media Web sites. This article by Heather Simmons was published in the New York Times on December 7, 2011.

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Twitter, Facebook take the lead in blogosphere as blog searches fall by half

by Prasad Krishna last modified Dec 07, 2011 03:43 PM

Blogging is old hat. A prominent trend-tracking tool shows that blog searches around the globe have halved, while micro-blogging platforms Twitter and Facebook have grown, suggesting a seminal shift in online communication.

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Kapil Sibal to sterilise Net but undercover sting shows 6 of 7 websites already trigger-happy to censor under ‘chilling’ IT Act

Kapil Sibal to sterilise Net but undercover sting shows 6 of 7 websites already trigger-happy to censor under ‘chilling’ IT Act

by Prasad Krishna last modified Dec 07, 2011 06:02 AM

The Bangalore-based Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) has carried out an undercover investigation into the "chilling effects" of new information technology laws on freedom of expression online, with six out of seven major websites removing innocent content online without proper investigation, creating a "private censorship regime".

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IT Inc oppose Sibal’s ‘great’ firewall proposal

by Prasad Krishna last modified Dec 07, 2011 05:36 AM

Information Technology and social media experts have questioned telecom and IT minister Kapil Sibal’s directive to social media and search engine firms to remove "disparaging, inflammatory or defamatory" user generated content from India and are doubting the cogency of such an exercise.

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Facebook, Google tell India they won’t screen for derogatory content

Facebook, Google tell India they won’t screen for derogatory content

by Prasad Krishna last modified Dec 07, 2011 05:25 AM

In the world’s largest democracy, the government wants Internet sites like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Google to screen and remove offensive content about religious figures and political leaders as soon as they learn about it. But those companies now say they can’t help.

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FTN: Should social networking sites be censored?

by Prasad Krishna last modified Dec 08, 2011 05:32 AM

Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal met the representatives of Facebook, Google and others seeking to device a screening mechanism. Sunil Abraham was on CNN-IBN from 10.00 p.m. to 10.30 p.m. speaking about freedom of expression in India.

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