Is the government really going to make us spy on each other through a 'cyber volunteer' program?

We have answers. This is called 'lateral' i.e. peer-to-peer surveillance. Thread on the program and concerns we sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs.

internetfreedom.in/cyber-voluntee…
1/n
Under MHA, Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre's program allows citizens to register as Unlawful Content Flaggers and report online content. This will help law enforcement identify, report and remove it.

It will be launched countrywide with test runs in J&K and Tripura.

2/n
Lateral surveillance is a practice where instead of a State surveilling citizens, we are incentivised to surveil each other. This will lead to a culture of suspicion, social distrust, and cyber vigilantism.

Read the 2021 paper outlining this:

cis-india.org/internet-gover…

3/n
The program has no legal framework to regulate its functioning, so the risk of misuse increases. There is no information about how authorities will ensure appropriate use, or ensure authenticity of reports. There is no process in place for withdrawal of complaints.
4/n
Anyone can register as a Flagger without prior KYC verification, and the position is voluntary. This absolves authorities of liability in case of misuse. It is against duties laid out by the SC for States to lessen social disaffection and develop law enforcement capacity.
5/n
The offences in the scope of this program are already cognizable and can be reported to the police by anyone. There is hence confusion about the actual need for such a program, and the need for special volunteers.
6/n
What is this vague "unlawful content"? Tripura and J&K press circulars ask volunteers to report radicalisation and anti-national activities. This violates SC's Shreya Singhal decision that speech restrictions shouldn't be used by States to criminalise free speech online.
7/n
In the 50s, the Socialist Unity Party of Germany had a Ministry for State Security called the Stasi. To stop dissent, it had citizen informants spy on their loved ones.

...is a cyber-vigilantism program similar?

We have recommended to MHA that it be halted immediately.

8/n

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More from @internetfreedom

25 Feb
🚨 Breaking: We are releasing a copy of the Draft IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, which seek to change the face of how digital media is governed in India.

Read our thread and analysis of the biggest concerns.
1/n
internetfreedom.in/latest-draft-i…
Background: Section 79 of the IT Act provides a ‘safe harbour’ to intermediaries like social media companies who host user generated content. It exempts them from liability for the actions of their users, as long as they adhere to guidelines prescribed by the government.
2/n
The Government has now expanded the scope of the intermediary rules to also include news media and OTT platforms. This was first reported by the Hindustan Times.
3/n
epaper.hindustantimes.com/Home/ShareArti…
Read 7 tweets
23 Feb
Thread 🧵

Did you know that Rajasthan has the second highest number of internet shutdowns in India? Here is what we are doing about it. 1/n

internetfreedom.in/rajasthan-govt…
Earlier this month, we wrote to the Rajasthan Govt bringing to its notice that internet shutdowns are being ordered by Divisional Commissioners who are not empowered to do so under the Telecom Suspension Rules 2017. 2/n
The State Level Review Committee is also not functioning properly and existing data suggests that it has only been reviewing around 25% of all internet shutdowns. 3/n
Read 6 tweets
8 Feb
The government has reportedly asked Twitter to remove 1178 Twitter accounts.

The recent blocking of pro farmer protests Twitter accounts reeks of government censorship.

Thread on the timeline of events and what we wrote to the MeitY.

1/n

internetfreedom.in/government-cen…
On Feb 1 ~250 Twitter accounts of news orgs, farmers groups, etc. were blocked in response to a legal request from MeitY. The rationale of provocative tweets about protests and a specific hashtag was not substantiated as such direction under Sec 69A has not been made public.

2/n
Reports claim that Twitter contested the order. While Twitter restored the blocked accounts after public outrage, concerns about secrecy, proportionality and arbitrariness were raised. On Feb 3 MeitY reportedly sent an order to Twitter warning it about this decision.

3/n
Read 9 tweets
2 Feb
Rihanna's talking about internet shutdowns during the farmers' protests.

Are you?

We've been working on this issue for some time now. Thread of all relevant resources:

1/n
Our joint statement with @SFLCin and @fsmi_in against internet shutdowns to suppress farmers' protests.

To go along with it, a signature campaign you can sign on to to show your support for this statement.

It takes 5 seconds. Have you signed on yet?

struggles.in/MobilisationCa…
Read 5 tweets
2 Feb
Thread:

We analyzed the Budget 2021-22 from a digital rights perspective. Read the full post here: internetfreedom.in/budget-2021-22/

1/n
It cumulatively allots Rs. 68,487.7 crore to NDHM, Ministry of Electronics and IT, and Department of Telecom.

A 460% increase in total capital expenditure over Revised Estimates of 2020-21 is observed, but this is not significant in context of last year's Budget estimates.

2/n
MeitY witnesses a boost with Rs. 9,720.7 in allocations, largely due to the Digital India Program (L).

An increasing trend is seen in allocations towards innovation, with IT/ITeS industries and Centre for Development of Advanced Computing receiving boosts (R).

3/n
Read 6 tweets
1 Feb
Thread 🧵

Reports suggest that a large number of Twitter accounts which were sharing information about the farmers' protests have been blocked by MeitY under the opaque Section 69A of the Information Technology Act. 1/n
Section 69A and the IT Blocking Rules prevent intermediaries like Twitter from disclosing any information about blocking of an account or tweet. 2/n
The confidentiality requirement present under Rule 16 of the IT Blocking Rules creates a bizarre situation where citizens have the right to challenge blocking of online content but they are unable to do so because they don't have access to these legal orders. 3/n
Read 6 tweets

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