MEITY blocks information requests citing national security and the requirement to maintain “strict confidentiality”. A Delhi high court case may help change practices around internet censorship in India. https://thewire.in/rights/dowry-calculator-censorship-information-india
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) is empowered to issue directions for blocking access to information (including tweets, websites – anything available on the internet) under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
The procedure it follows to do this is detailed in ‘The Information Technology (Procedure and safeguards for blocking for access of information by public) Rules, 2009’ or the IT Blocking Rules, 2009.
Ever since billionaire Elon Musk took over Twitter last October, the company has increasingly acceded to government requests for censorship and surveillance. The company’s own data showed that it did not decline a single such request between October 2022 to April 2023, unlike before Musk’s acquisition.
“This lack of transparency also allows for the complete lack of accountability that exists in India’s blocking regime,” Tanmay Singh, Senior Litigation Counsel at digital rights advocacy group Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) told Decode.
by Saurav Das
15/06/2023