What the law says on phone tapping

Unauthorised phone tapping is a constitutional wrong Phone tapping is surely an interference with the civil liberty of citizens.  This was questioned by People’s Union of Civil Liberties before the Supreme Court, which disapproved unguided use of power to intercept and interfere with the telephone communications of persons. However, right to privacy in the form…

Civil society rights violated in 96 countries

A new global report by CIVICUS finds that rights of civil society were violated in almost half of the world’s 193 countries in 2014. In particular, the report draws attention to the systematic assault on Freedom of Association, Expression and Assembly. The CIVICUS Civil Society Watch Report shows that core civil society freedoms of expression,…

Government’s stand on internet governance draws applause from civil society organisations

India’s decision to support the multistakeholder model of internet governance has drawn mostly applause from civil society organisations and individuals who have been following the issue, even as they cautioned that implementation will determine the success of the model. A day after communications and IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said India will support the multistakeholder…

Subramanian Swamy challenges hate speech law in SC

After challenging the validity of the criminal defamation law, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy has now challenged before the Supreme Court various provisions of the Indian Penal Code dealing with offences of ‘hate speech’, saying they were violative of the fundamental right to freedom of speech. According to the law, hate speech is any speech, gesture…

Use of social media doubles in rural India

The use of social media in rural India has grown 100 per cent in the past year with 25 million people using the Internet to access Twitter and Facebook, according to a report. “Accessing social media is one of the key reasons for people to access the Internet. In fact, for many people accessing the…

Who Will Really Benefits From The Internet Space Race?

In the film Elysium, the ultra-rich have left an apocalyptic Earth ravaged by global warming and overpopulation. Their utopian colony orbits high above Earth which festers below. Science fiction, but Silicon Valley techno-utopians also dream of rising above the planet’s problems. The Seasteading Institute, for example, seeks to create floating cities far enough from land…