The United Nations has passed a non-binding resolution condemning the disruption of Internet access as ahuman rights violation. Russia and China were among countries opposing the resolution, which reaffirms the stance of the UN Human Rights Council that “the same rights people have offline must also be protected online.” Saudi Arabia joined the two nations…
When most people think or speak about internet freedom, they are often concerned with the right, for example, to say what you want online without censorship and without being subject to the chilling effects of surveillance. By Indra de Lanerolle These kind of freedoms are sometimes called “negative freedoms” or “freedoms from…”. They address the right…
Prime Minister Andrew Holness has said that in another 10 to 15 years, access to the Internet could be viewed globally as a basic human right. Addressing the 34th annual Jamaica Employers’ Federation Convention at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in St James last Friday, Holness said that already some countries have started the process,…
Tokyo: Information technology ministers of the G7 countries, during a meeting in Japan on Saturday, agreed to tackle the digital divide by bringing internet access to more people, and pushing for policies free of political censorship. The plan set out by the ministers of the G7 countries – Japan, the US, Germany, Britain, France, Canada…
Few days back while unveiling the future road map for the global technology giant Google, the CEO Sundar Pichai, made a powerful statement that technology has been the force behind democratization in the world. Democratization means the leveling of various categories of contemporary society; be it gender, economically haves and have-nots , socially advanced or…
There are four key aspects that can be gleaned from the text of this paragraph. First, the abuse of ICTs (including the internet) in violation of United Nations Charter and international law, “for terrorism and other criminal purposes”. Second, the need for countering such abuse by strengthening cooperation, and developing an international treaty for addressing…
US-based content delivery company Akamai has made seven acquisitions over the past four years in order to stay relevant and play a role in the future of Internet. One of the most significant acquisitions for the $1.8-billion technology company so far is Octoshape, a startup building a platform that enables the delivery of content over…
New Delhi: The residents of Jammu & Kashmir have collectively lost access to high-quality Internet connectivity for anywhere between 18 to 25 days over the last four years, according to an analysis of Internet shutdowns in the region. Data from Freedom House reports, media accounts and government notifications shows that from January 2012, there have…
Mobile internet has been shut down in some parts of Kashmir due to protests over the death of 4 people in clashes with the security forces, reports The Hindu. The report added that the internet shut down was to ‘curb the menace of rumor mongering.’ NDTV statesthat the affected areas for internet were: Srinagar, Kupwara,…
WhatsApp has found itself on the receiving end of Indian government’s scrutiny since itintroduced end-to-end encryption for all texts, voice calls and videos across all device platforms last week. The 256-bit encryption on WhatsApp, which allows only the recipient to view the files, messages and texts sent over the platform, has raisedquestions over the app’s legality…