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,…

The Master Wordsmith

He says his characters sometimes surprise him, exert influence, like  the created binding the creator. Unassuming and gentle Amitav Ghosh on Thursday spoke about how history fascinated him, how relating everything to Vedas could distort their  original spirit and how the state was incapable of ensuring freedom of  expression. The prolific author was in the…

Section 66A judgment: A victory for intermediaries

The judgment brings intermediary liability in India in line with the international position, and should encourage e-commerce start-ups The Supreme Court’s decision in the Shreya Singhal case striking down the draconian Section 66A has garnered much applause and rightly so. The decision, in fact, re-emphasises the need to respect the fundamental freedom of speech and…

Opposition against Internet.org growing

Amid growing criticism for Facebook’s Internet.org initiative, 67 Internet activists group have written an open letter to the founder of social networking site Mark Zuckerberg, saying it violates principles of net neutrality and is a threat to freedom of expression. Signatories to the letter include groups from India, Colombia, Netherlands, U.S., Democratic Republic of Congo,…

One Year of Modi Sarkar: Hate Speech Galore

By Ram Puniyani, The coming to power of Narendra Modi in a way gave an open license to all the affiliates of RSS combine to indulge in open hate speech against the religious minorities. The current agenda behind the hate speech is to consolidate the communal polarisation of the society along lines of religion. The…