Hyderabad / New Delhi, December 07: Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal’s efforts to “gag” the social media had netizens up in arms on Tuesday. Sibal for once was trending at the top of the list on Twitter throughout the day. His demand for pre-screening content even before it’s uploaded on websites like Facebook evoked sharp reactions with some even warning of an internet emergency. Youngsters in the city too voiced their opposition to what they see as “censorship” and a move meant to stifle their voice.
Mahek Virani, a corporate sector employee, opines, “According to me, we have become used to making mountains out of mole hills. Honestly, what Kapil Sibal is very conveniently passing off as supervision is just a feeble attempt at protecting politicians from opinions of people which are sad but honest. We need to understand that we are not as sensitive as these politicians make us out to be. Instead of keeping tabs on what’s posted on social networking sites and what’s not, it would do all of us so much more good if they focused on more important issues to avoid these comments from being posted in the first place.” Isha Anjali Chandra, a graduate and a regular Facebook-er, says, “Firstly, this doesn’t seem feasible in anyway because of the vast number of users and subjectivity of what is considered offensive. To me, it looks like censorship and a contradiction of freedom of speech.”
Arun John, assistant professor from St Francis College for Women, believes Sibal’s move is a sign of the government’s desperation. “I guess this is a clear signal that the government is getting more and more worried about the growing popularity and power of social media and how it is helping people’s movements across the country. Censoring content on Facebook is unbecoming of a democracy. It is axing one’s opinion. The government did not need this to add to the whirlpool of negativity they are already stuck in,” he observes.
Most of the popular Internet services such as Facebook and YouTube have built-in mechanisms to flag and filter objectionable content, but the government seems to want to take it a step further.
Sachindra Pandy, employee, Purple Talk, elaborates, “These websites already filter content if reported as offensive, so where is the need for the so-called supervision of content? It’s nothing but arrogance of power, which has become a characteristic of this government. Instead of finding out solutions to problems faced by citizens, the government is doing everything it can to stifle the voices — Freedom of speech is our constitutional right and no one can take it away. Also, if the government has some problem with the content, and these websites have published anything illegal, the matter should be taken to the court.”
Is India — which ranks third in Internet use globally — going the China way by imposing Internet restrictions? Telecoms and information technology minister, Kapil Sibal, on Monday, sought censorship of content on social networking sites. Reports that Sibal urged social network companies, including Facebook, Twitter and Google, to remove offensive material has unleashed a storm of criticism in Bangalore.
Sibal justified his observations by showing images from the Internet that could offend religious sentiments. However, this argument did not cut any ice with Internet-users. “Sibal was wrong on the 2G scam with his ‘zero loss’ theory. He is very wrong in trying to bring to India the Chinese model of controlling the Internet. It is doomed to fail,” said Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Twitter.
“The Congress should not make amendments to the Constitution and just take away our right to freedom of expression,” said Prithvi Reddy of India Against Corruption (IAC). “Instead of trying to take the country forward, they are taking it backward,” he added .
The intention behind these developments is to put restrictions on civil society and citizens’ movements, noted Reddy.
Vikram Hemanathan, an organiser of SlutWalk Bangalore, a campaign that used the Web extensively, said: “We are treading a thin line between a free country and one where the government decides our every move. This is against our fundamental rights.”
Earlier in the year, new rules were created obliging Internet companies to remove a range of objectionable content when requested to do so, a move criticised at the time by rights groups and social media companies.
It was not clear if Sibal was proposing stiffer regulation, but Union law minister Salman Khurshid later said his colleague was calling for dialogue about offensive content, not censorship.
The hash-tag ‘#IdiotKapilSibal’ was a rage on Twitter on Tuesday. “The idea has not been thought through,” said Anirban Sen, an avid Twitter user.
Facebook said in a statement that it recognised the government’s wish to minimise the amount of offensive content on the Web, but added that it already removes content that violates company rules on nudity and inciting violence and hatred.