Thread by @OfficialSauravD

#StoryAlert 🚨

Indian govt passed 27,000 content takedown orders, but a 'Review Committee' mandated to overturn illegal censor orders has passed ZERO orders since 2009.

My RTIs have revealed major red flags in India's censorship framework. Read on

1/13
boomlive.in/decode/impact/…

Under the IT Content Blocking Rules 2009, a Review Committee has to review every order, & can set aside a blocking order and order unblocking of any content.

But despite 27,000 censor orders passed since 2014, this Committee has not ONCE found a problem with govt's orders.

2/13

The Review committee has basically rubberstamped all blocking orders since 2009! Experts I spoke to called this a great cause of concern.

@tame_wildcard from @accessnow said that India's censorship review system is "systematically broken".

3/13

Lack of independence of committee members who r govt officers, humongous number of censorship orders, and lack of any appeal procedure have allowed India's govt to ban content and free speech online, without much challenge.

But a major hurdle in all this is THIS-

4/13

Lack of transparency. Rule 16 requires "strict confidentiality" which the govt uses to refuse information on everything censorship, including providing a copy of the content takedown order to the affected party.

"This is unconstitutional", @tame_wildcard tells me.

5/13

Govt does not tell people that it's censoring their content. When d affected person demands to know why, govt refuses to share any details & even a copy of the censor order.

This is akin to charging a person with a crime, and refusing to tell him the charges.

6/13

So effectively, without a copy of d order that details the reasons why their content was taken down, people have NO WAY to challenge the govt order.

A writ petition in the High Court is possible, but "very difficult", @Krishnesh96 tells me.
Lack of resources, money, time.

7/13

@tame_wildcard tells me that other major democracies—including the US and countries in Europe—do not give their federal governments such wide direct powers to issue executive orders to restrict or block web content.

8/13

When asked why the government insists on absolute secrecy in the entire process, @tame_wildcard said that the government does not want the public to know who or what exactly they are blocking bcuz the govt could be left embarrassed.

9/13

Only d telecom & tech companies know what is going on in these review committees & whenever there is an attempt to push back & bring more transparency, d government threatens them with regulatory action. Big tech like Twitter is suing d Indian govt for its "abuse of power"

10/13

The lack of transparency in the entire process and attempts to infuse so frowned upon, experts are concerned about the negative implication this has on India's already deteriorating freedom of speech.

So what should people demand and what should the govt do?

11/13

1. Overhaul the entire censorship framework- restrict state powers, increase checks & balances.
2. Censorship orders only by a sitting Judge
3. Govt must inform affected party that its ordering takedown of their content
4. Provide copy of the order so one can challenge it.

12/13

5. Provide a fair hearing to the individual before passing blocking order.
6. Explore "less intrusive means" before ordering takedown.
7. Create an appeal mechanism.
8. Periodically review the orders.

More on these at @boomlive_in.

boomlive.in/decode/impact/…