Digital Democracy

Page under construction.. 

https://sflc.in/legal-challenge-cpil-and-sflcin-surveillance-projects-cms-natgrid-and-netra  three surveillance projects namely CMS, NETRA and NATGRID, which collectively and separately seek to spy on the communication of citizens in India.  

The Writ Petition challenges the operation and execution of the surveillance projects on the following grounds:

The surveillance projects violate the right to privacy of citizens under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.
Aggregation of metadata of an individual's transactions such as financial information and travel information can lead to profiling of the population. Such methods of data collection have a chilling effect on right to free speech, restricting the fundamental right to speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India.
Surveillance projects are in violation of India's obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (“ICCPR”) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (“UDHR”).
The projects lack an oversight mechanism and stand in violation of the principles laid down in the Puttaswamy judgment.
Lack of a parliamentary or judicial oversight mechanism over interception and monitoring of communications.

The Leaflet moves high court against 'vague, overbroad, unconstitutionally arbitrary' IT rules https://www.newslaundry.com/2021/07/05/the-leaflet-moves-high-court-against-vague-overbroad-unconstitutionally-arbitrary-it-rules 05 Jul, 2021

Highlighting the attack on the freedom of the press in India, the parent company of legal news portal Leaflet and its contributing editor Ashish Khetan have challenged the new IT rules via a writ petition filed on June 29 before the Bombay High Court.

The petition read: “The IT Rules, 2021 impose unreasonable, excessive, and tenuous burdens on digital news publishers, which are designed to restrict and narrow the scope of reporting undertaken by such publishers and place unfeasible economic hardship on them, thereby imposing a disproportionate burden that directly violates the rights of the press that are protected under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India.”

It further stated that the IT Rules contain provisions that enable the government, without any limitations or guidelines, to direct the modification of content published by such news publishers. It said, “[This empowers] the State to dictate and direct what is being published by the press, which amounts to a gross violation of the freedom of the press.”

Journalist Nikhil Wagle moves high court against 'arbitrary, illegal' new IT rules 02 Jul, 2021 

senior journalist Nikhil Wagle submitted that the rules were infringed upon fundamental rights under Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the constitution. He said the rules were "against the law" since they go beyond the remit of the Information Technology Act, 2000. the Rules provide "unfettered powers to the executive to direct the intermediaries to delete or modify or block the relevant content and information generated, transmitted, received, stored or hosted in their computer resource for public access."

Quint files plea against new digital media rules in Delhi High Court https://www.newslaundry.com/2021/03/19/quint-files-plea-against-new-digital-media-rules-in-delhi-high-court  19 Mar, 2021
A notice has been issued to the government to respond to the petition that challenges the constitutional validity of the new guidelines. The Quint’s petition said that the executive power to virtually dictate content to digital news portal would squarely violate Articles 14 and Article 19 (1)(a) – equality before law and right to freedom of speech and expression, respectively – of the Constitution. The new IT rules, issued by the Centre on February 25, seek to regulate digital news portals by imposing government oversight and a “Code of Ethics”, therefore going beyond the scope of the IT Act.. “Upon the merest complaint or even without any, space has been created for the State to enter and control news and views by way of deletion, modification or blocking, censure, compelled apology and more. Clubbing online news portals with social media as distinct from the print news media is unfair and irrational classification.” 

‘Digital media ethics rules go against fundamental principle of news’, says DIGIPUB  https://www.newslaundry.com/2021/02/26/digital-media-ethics-rules-go-against-fundamental-principle-of-news-says-digipub  26 Feb, 2021 DIGIPUB News India Foundation said while self-regulation of all news media was “imperative and the need of the hour”, the rules gave the government vast powers that ran counter to the principle of freedom of expression enshrined in the Indian constitution...

the association noted, “rules and laws already exist to hold news media accountable”, yet the new rules enable the government to even remove content published as current affairs or news.

More worryingly, it added, the rules bypass established legal processes in favour of adjudication by a body of bureaucrats controlled by the central government. “This goes against the principle of separation of powers,” it said.

Egocracy, Digital Freedom & Data Privacy Parakala Prabhakar​ Jun 15, 2021 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-vFCdXwpNs Parakala deals with
1.Indian Government's attempts to throttle our freedom of expression on the digital platforms; (2020 saw 150 internet shutdowns 109 in India https://www.accessnow.org/issue/internet-shutdowns/)
2. the tech companies unbridled collection of our personal data without our consent, ( after rule 21- govt will be prosecutor and judge, will define "public order, security of the State, )
3. the safety of our data in the hands of both government and tech companies.( BN Srikirshna report of july https://prsindia.org/files/bills_acts/bills_parliament/Committee%20Report%20on%20Draft%20Personal%20Data%20Protection%20Bill,%202018.pdf 
Bill not in line with BNK report.. In fact SNk has said that the draft, as it is, is "dangerous" still brought in . Sec25 is a problem..

Meanwhile on the Internaltional front--
India signs statement against ‘politically motivated internet shutdowns’ https://scroll.in/latest/997458/india-signs-statement-against-politically-motivated-internet-shutdowns
India signs statement against ‘politically motivated internet shutdowns’
India on Sunday signed a joint statement by G7 countries on “open societies”, which upholds “human rights for all, both online and offline” and the freedom of expression. The statement referred to “politically motivated internet shutdowns” as one of the threats to freedom and democracy.

However, India is a leading offender in this category. It recorded the highest number of internet shutdowns in the world in 2020, according to a report by digital rights and privacy organisation Access Now on March 3. Of the total 155 internet shutdowns globally, India alone accounted for 109, according to the report. The next highest was Yemen, with six shutdowns, and Ethiopia with four.

India a natural ally of G7 nations, says Modi, calls for ‘democratic values’ in cyberspace  https://scroll.in/latest/997441/india-a-natural-ally-of-g7-nations-says-modi-calls-for-democratic-values-in-cyberspace   Invited as a lead speaker to the session on open societies and economies, Modi stressed on the need to ensure that cyberspace remains an avenue for advancing democratic values and not for subverting it, the prime minister’s office said.

The prime minister called upon technology companies and social media platforms to ensure a safe cyber environment for the users, Additional Secretary (economic relations) of the Foreign Ministry, P Harish, said in a press briefing on the G7 summit. The comments assume significance on the domestic front also, as the Centre and social media companies tussle over the implementation of new information technology rules.

For other articles in this blog: http://emeets.lnwr.in/index.php/digital-democracy

Defender of Your Digital Freedom  https://sflc.in/