Respect internet freedom, US tells India

[SinoChallenger]

Shame on india! No freedom or basic necessities of life for 99% of people but incredible shining wealth for 1%.

 

[Snomannen]

Well, I have no love for Obama at all. Actually to me he is the one that made Bush Jr looked good for his presidency. My remark was not directed at any group of people as it is not my style doing so. It is just my opinion of him personally.

... that's impolite...

 

[Kyusuibu Honbu]

Well, I have no love for Obama at all. Actually to me he is the one that made Bush Jr looked good for his presidency. My remark was not directed at any group of people as it is not my style doing so. It is just my opinion of him personally.

Mc Cain could have been lot worse.

 

[Patriot]

And Indians were chanting on this forum that India is gonna ask US to shut down these websites haha..

U.S. Calls on India to Respect Internet Freedom

The U.S. has urged India not to step on Internet freedoms as New Delhi seeks to clamp down on social media sites it blames for adding to communal tensions between Muslim and northeastern communities.

Indian officials say sites like Google and Facebook have been slow to remove content they claim has incited Muslim communities to carry out acts of violence, causing an exodus of northeasterners from a number of Indian cities.

Some Indian news reports even say India is planning to ask the U.S. for help in regulating such sites.

Victoria Nuland, a U.S. State Department spokeswoman, said Tuesday the U.S. was not playing any role in India’s investigation on what sparked the exodus.

Ms. Nuland also stood up for freedom of expression, highlighting the gulf that divides India from the U.S. on the issue.

“We are always on the side of full freedom of the internet,” Ms. Nuland said. “We also always urge the government to maintain its own commitment to human rights, fundamental freedoms, rule of law.”

Different approaches over how to monitor the Internet have increasingly put India and the U.S. at odds in recent months.

India’s government says it supports Internet freedoms but will not allow people to use the medium to stoke communal sentiments.

The issue has come into focus this week amid violence between Muslim and northeastern communities in the state of Assam. The conflict over land has led to around 80 deaths and has caused reprisal attacks against northeasterners across India, causing many of them to flee.
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India has blocked around 250 websites, some of which it says carried fake images of violence by northeasterners against Muslims in Assam. It also has called on social networking sites to remove inflammatory content. Google and Facebook said Tuesday they are working on the requests.

The problem with this approach is that it’s often difficult to identify the source of objectionable material online.

India has been quick to point the finger – seemingly without much evidence – at people for inciting violence against northeasterners. First, the Home Ministry blamed Pakistan for hosting sites carrying the fake images. Officials later said they also suspected organizations in south India and Bangladesh.

A report in The Indian Express today says Indian authorities have arrested several people for sending SMS messages inciting violence against northeasterners. They include a 26-year-old cell phone repairman based in Bangalore.

Another issue is that it’s difficult to delineate what constitutes acceptable content. Clearly, people who use the Web to incite others to specific acts of violence should be stopped.

But India also has complained to social networking sites about more trivial matters, like cartoons that portray politicians in a joking manner. Some would argue curbing the Internet leads to a slippery slope where more and more content gets censored.

The latest battle is between the Prime Minister’s Office and Twitter. The PMO is angry over a number of Twitter accounts pretending to be Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Some of these sites were inciting communal tensions, including commenting on politicians’ castes and religions, said PMO spokesman Pankaj Pachauri.

The PMO has had the official @PMOIndia verified by Twitter, allowing users to tell which is the real account.

But that wasn’t enough. In June, the PMO wrote to Twitter asking the company to block the imposter sites. Mr. Pachauri said Twitter did not respond. Indian “cyber authorities” then unilaterally blocked six Twitter handles that were aping the Prime Minister, including using his photo, he added.

“We’re all for media freedom and encourage criticism by the media,” Mr. Pachauri says. “But when it comes to inciting trouble between communities then we have to take firm action.”

U.S. Calls on India to Respect Internet Freedom - India Real Time - WSJ

 

[chauism]

Mc Cain could have been lot worse.

Well, but personally I found that even though Repulicans appear to be a bunch of conservative religious elitist bigots, when it come to governing a country they tend to be more pragmatic than those idealistic empty talking Democrats. One would think that they can come up with a better presidential candidate, but no despite having 8 years for grooming the next candidate, they came up with someone that even Obama could beat, and will beat again this year. That is one thing I really have problem with the democratic system.

... that's impolite...

To many Americans, he deserves that name.

Shame on india! No freedom or basic necessities of life for 99% of people but incredible shining wealth for 1%.

Gee... One wonder why there are many Indians come to bash China any chance they get here at PDF for no reason.

 

[somebozo]

Translation:

What US actually says to India..

Let us play our dirty game you fookers!

 

[blackout]

If rumors are spread in the country it is the duty of the government to produce the facts with proper evidences and make it void. but controlling the internet doesnt make the rumor void. This is not some communist country this is a free country.

IMO controlling the internet in India will have very adverse effect in the Indian political system.

 

[BJP*]

Gee... One wonder why there are many Indians come to bash China any chance they get here at PDF for no reason.

Thats why now a days we are ignoring such members. You seen any Indian have not replied that post yet for last 5 hours.

 

[chauism]

Thats why now a days we are ignoring such members. You seen any Indian have not replied that post yet for last 5 hours.

To be fair though, some Indian members here also had their fair shares of this mud slinging in most China related topics as well, some topics were even started by Indian members. I am not going to name names, but you should know who and what I am talking about.

 

[SHAMK9]

And Indians were chanting on this forum that India is gonna ask US to shut down these websites haha..

U.S. Calls on India to Respect Internet Freedom

The U.S. has urged India not to step on Internet freedoms as New Delhi seeks to clamp down on social media sites it blames for adding to communal tensions between Muslim and northeastern communities.

Indian officials say sites like Google and Facebook have been slow to remove content they claim has incited Muslim communities to carry out acts of violence, causing an exodus of northeasterners from a number of Indian cities.

Some Indian news reports even say India is planning to ask the U.S. for help in regulating such sites.

Victoria Nuland, a U.S. State Department spokeswoman, said Tuesday the U.S. was not playing any role in India’s investigation on what sparked the exodus.

Ms. Nuland also stood up for freedom of expression, highlighting the gulf that divides India from the U.S. on the issue.

“We are always on the side of full freedom of the internet,” Ms. Nuland said. “We also always urge the government to maintain its own commitment to human rights, fundamental freedoms, rule of law.”

Different approaches over how to monitor the Internet have increasingly put India and the U.S. at odds in recent months.

India’s government says it supports Internet freedoms but will not allow people to use the medium to stoke communal sentiments.

The issue has come into focus this week amid violence between Muslim and northeastern communities in the state of Assam. The conflict over land has led to around 80 deaths and has caused reprisal attacks against northeasterners across India, causing many of them to flee.
More In Censorship

Blaming Pakistan Is the Easy Way Out
India Bans Mass SMS to Counter Panic
Iranian Game Tries to Revive Rushdie Fatwa
India Ups Pressure on Google, Data Show
The Dangers of India's Internet Policy

More In Northeast Unrest

Economics Journal: Why Rumors Spread
Blaming Pakistan Is the Easy Way Out
In Assam, Two Decades of Displacement
What They Said: Spreading Fear Across India
India Bans Mass SMS to Counter Panic

India has blocked around 250 websites, some of which it says carried fake images of violence by northeasterners against Muslims in Assam. It also has called on social networking sites to remove inflammatory content. Google and Facebook said Tuesday they are working on the requests.

The problem with this approach is that it’s often difficult to identify the source of objectionable material online.

India has been quick to point the finger – seemingly without much evidence – at people for inciting violence against northeasterners. First, the Home Ministry blamed Pakistan for hosting sites carrying the fake images. Officials later said they also suspected organizations in south India and Bangladesh.

A report in The Indian Express today says Indian authorities have arrested several people for sending SMS messages inciting violence against northeasterners. They include a 26-year-old cell phone repairman based in Bangalore.

Another issue is that it’s difficult to delineate what constitutes acceptable content. Clearly, people who use the Web to incite others to specific acts of violence should be stopped.

But India also has complained to social networking sites about more trivial matters, like cartoons that portray politicians in a joking manner. Some would argue curbing the Internet leads to a slippery slope where more and more content gets censored.

The latest battle is between the Prime Minister’s Office and Twitter. The PMO is angry over a number of Twitter accounts pretending to be Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Some of these sites were inciting communal tensions, including commenting on politicians’ castes and religions, said PMO spokesman Pankaj Pachauri.

The PMO has had the official @PMOIndia verified by Twitter, allowing users to tell which is the real account.

But that wasn’t enough. In June, the PMO wrote to Twitter asking the company to block the imposter sites. Mr. Pachauri said Twitter did not respond. Indian “cyber authorities” then unilaterally blocked six Twitter handles that were aping the Prime Minister, including using his photo, he added.

“We’re all for media freedom and encourage criticism by the media,” Mr. Pachauri says. “But when it comes to inciting trouble between communities then we have to take firm action.”

U.S. Calls on India to Respect Internet Freedom - India Real Time - WSJ

india later blamed sri lanka, and china, and mexico, and canada and congo

 

[UnChosen]

Rumor is the least important thing to worry about. Those could easily be proven false, even though its supposed to be innocent until proven guilty to begin with.

What's worse than that is the hijacking of the media by either foreign, corporate, or other interest groups that can put a negative spin to every news. You cannot disprove those because most of the time its simply an appeal to emotions by seeding skepticism.

Then there's the faking of news by omitting important information or adding irrelevant information.

Most people are not trained in the journalism profession and cannot tell the difference between real information and fake/unreliable information

 

[chauism]

Rumor is the least important thing to worry about. Those could easily be proven false, even though its supposed to be innocent until proven guilty to begin with.

What's worse than that is the hijacking of the media by either foreign, corporate, or other interest groups that can put a negative spin to every news. You cannot disprove those because most of the time its simply an appeal to emotions by seeding skepticism.

Then there's the faking of news by omitting important information or adding irrelevant information.

Most people are not trained in the journalism profession and cannot tell the difference between real information and fake/unreliable information

I think you have overestimated the general public and underestimated the power of mass hysteria and mass panics in any emergency situations.

 

[RISING SUN]

That monkey won't even last half day in India. What does he know about governing a developing country with many social problems and vast population with diversed culture backgrounds? While in his country he only needs to do what is handed to him by big corporates and special interests groups and pander the public with false promises with no deeds to keep the poll numbers up. It is just easy for him to say these words when he is not the one who has to deal with the situation at hand.

This is first time in history as far as I know that Chinese posters are defending India. I am happy to see such unity. Even I have given thanks on every deserving post no matter which nationality(oops sorry,I give thanks to every deserving post in all threads.).