India’s internet censorship

As we know all too well in Pakistan, the first instinct of a government facing a crisis is to start asserting its control in ways that are inimical to personal freedom. The Indian government has now joined in the act, threatening legal action against social media networking website Twitter because of users who have been posting inflammatory and untrue messages warning of an impending Muslim attack on students and workers from northeast India. The Indian government wants Twitter, Facebook and Google to block such users and delete their messages because they are leading to one of the largest internal migrations in Indian history. The frustration felt by the government due to the spreading of these rumours is understandable but countering it with mass bans is inadvisable.

India has blocked 245 websites, banned the sending out of bulk text messages and even blocked the Twitter accounts of some Indian journalists. It is unwise to expect Twitter to be able to monitor the countless messages that are constantly posted on it. Platforms like Twitter rely on self-policing. A better solution would be for individual users to identify inflammatory messages and then report them to Twitter. Incitement to violence is not protected under any freedom of speech laws but Twitter will need help to ensure the smooth running of a community that essentially needs to police itself.

India, of all countries, should understand that reversing the tide of technological progress is unwise. The economic boom it witnessed has been driven by an IT revolution. The solution to the current situation is to target those responsible for inciting violence and not go after the medium through which they have been doing it. The internet, along with websites like Twitter, are powerful tools allowing the free flow of ideas. Occasionally, this space can be misused. In the long run, though, the world is better off with Twitter available as a tool for protest. Democratic governments need to recognise this rather than try to stem the tide of progress.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 24^th, 2012.