Global Voices Advocacy » Bhumika Ghimire

India's Information Technology Rules 2011 Has Many Fuming

Bhumika Ghimire — Tue, 17 May 2011 03:03:44 +0000

Pic by penn-olson.com

Is India following China's lead when it comes to user generated content online? Many will answer yes, following newly released Information Technology Rules 2011.

The Economic Times reports that the rules are

“…evoking the ire of internet community in India and chiefly from the largest search engine firm Google, which calls the rules as censorship of internet in the country.

The new set of rules will impact all internet firms which accept user-generated content such as Google, Microsoft, Rediff, Indiatimes, Yahoo, Facebook , among others. The new rules are set to regulate reader's comments on articles, user-posted videos, blogs, photos and comments on wall posts on online social networks.”

Ratri Adityarani at technology blog Penn Olson says that the rules

“..states that websites shall inform users not to publish any material that is “blasphemous, would incite hatred, is ethnically objectionable, would infringe on patents, or threaten India’s unity or public order.”

Compelling websites to monitor user generated content is a step closer to encouraging self-censorship. The definition of what constitutes an objectionable material is open to variety of interpretation. Lack of clarity and fear of prosecution will force many users to hold back. It may work in preventing some objectionable content, but it will also stifle user expression.

Although India does look like an oddity in trying to monitor and control online content considering its vital IT industry and position in the international market as a technology hub, it has company. Neighbouring Nepal's Electronic Transactions Act of 2005 also echos similar sentiments, although it does not specifically direct the website operators with the duty to monitor content.

“Publication of illegal materials in electronic form: (1) If any person publishes or displays any material in the electronic media including computer, internet which are prohibited to publish or display by the law in force or which may be contrary to the public morality or decent behavior or any types of materials which may spread hate or jealousy against anyone or which may jeopardize the harmonious relations subsisting among the peoples of various castes, tribes and communities shall be liable to the punishment with the fine not exceeding one hundred thousand Rupees or with the imprisonment not exceeding five years or with both.”

Gaurav Sharma commented on the new rules and also under reported incidents of blogs being censored in India. It seems that India's decision to exercise some control over user generated content online is based more on the fear of the great unknown. If the government is really concerned about online content and its impact on national security and patent rights of businesses, it would have introduced a realistic cyber security policy and not rely on website operators to monitor content.

Nepal: Facebooking Revolt and Censorship

Bhumika Ghimire — Mon, 09 May 2011 18:41:18 +0000

Arab spring has brought winds of change into Nepal. On Saturday, May 7, group of young people gathered near Maitighar area of capital Kathmandu demanding speedy resolution to the current deadlocke caused by delay in formulating new constitution. Inspired by a Facebook page Show up, Stand up, Speak up, they conducted peaceful protest and caused quite a stir among local media and politicians not used to citizen media inspired direct activism.

As this bold step by the youth gathered attention, some are criticizing it as a cosmetic move and elite activism which has failed to connect with the mass. “Facebook revolution” is also being called an elaborate hoax.

Unfortunately, in Nepal attempts to silence independent voices of dissent is nothing new. This wave of criticism against entirely non-political, citizen led and inspired movement just adds another chapter.

Over the weekend it became clear that Nepal's citizen media too is under scrutiny after the Press Council-whose sole responsibility is to enforce media code of conduct and look out for “anti-social news” demanded answers from a hugely popular blog. Mysansar.com, had published series of posts critical of political-industrial complex in Nepal; particularly targeting the hugely influential Chaudhary Group.

Press Council Act of 1992 clearly limits the jurisdiction of the Council to traditional media outlets, yet they decided to act on vaguely worded complaint from Chaudhary Group which claimed defamation.

It is a clear that Nepali society still has a faction which is unable or unwilling to accept that citizens have a voice and they will not be silent. This group, accustomed to being lead by hereditary politicians and leaders far more adept in playing with the rules than listening to the people; find it unacceptable that bunch of young people are demanding that the new constitution be completed in Nepal. This mind set also pushes respectable and responsible institutions like the Press Council to go after a blog, while ignoring bigger issues plaguing journalism.

Just the right time to “Like” revolt in streets of Kathmandu!

Azerbaijan Deports Swedish Television Crew

Bhumika Ghimire — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 18:58:44 +0000

The Commitee to Protect Journalists reports that Azerbaijan has deported a Swedish television crew which had arrived to film a documentary on human rights situation in the country.

“According to CPJ sources and local press reports, plainclothed men detained journalists My Rohwedder Street, Charlie Laprevote, and Charlotta Wijkström at a protest rally in the capital city Baku on Sunday. The men, who did not identify themselves, detained the crew members and took them to the Sabail District police department in Baku, then transferred them to the headquarters of Azerbaijan's Migration Service, the local press reported. The men also confiscated their digital cameras and erased all existing footage from their memory cards, international press reported.”

While the reason for deportation is not very clear, some officials suspect that there might be problems with the crew's visas. Radio Free Europe, however, quotes one of the crew members as saying that they did not hide anything while applying for Azerbaijani visa. They are also reporting that the European Enlargement Commissioner has expressed concern over the deportation and also the hostile environment for journalists in Azerbaijan.

“Meanwhile, a spokesperson for European Enlargement Commissioner Štefan Füele expressed concern about recent developments in Azerbaijan, citing what he called “escalating pressures on journalists, youth, and political activists.”

It is important to note here that Azerbaijan is facing criticism for its attitude towards journalists, democracy and human rights activists. The Associated Press reports that number of activists were arrested for rallying for democracy, earlier this month.

Bahrain: Pro-Government Activists are Blogging too

Bhumika Ghimire — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 12:00:43 +0000

Demands for change in Bahrain and recent incidents of violence against those demanding reform is being chronicled by number of bloggers. They present struggle within the country and also how external forces are influencing events. Adding another dimension to the discussion, pro-government and pro-establishment bloggers are also making their side heard online.

Suhail Algosaibi, an author and fitness professional, is a self confessed “fan” of the Bahraini crown prince and praises his efforts to resolve ongoing crisis in the country,

“I applaud your efforts in trying to bring a resolution to the February 14th crisis, which has left a deep wound in our society. Despite the opposition’s arrogance, you’ve persisted in trying to bring a win-win resolution to the crisis. God bless you. In the end they’ve shown their true colours, and no one can fault you for your efforts.”

Algosaibi has also blogged about Bahrain's opposition loosing credibility.

Peace Bahrain recently published documents leaked by WikiLeaks, which accuses prominent human rights activists in the country of being paid by Iran.They have also posted a video, claiming that Nabeel Rajab of Bahrain Center for Human Rights, is discriminatory against the expatriate community in Bahrain.

Bahrain Independent has also published several articles questioning credibility of prominent activists, including Abdulhadi Al Khawaja, who is currently under arrest.

“Following his exile due to his contribution in the failed coup and throughout the 1980s, Al Khawaja played a leading role in the IFLB (Islamic Front for the Liberation of Bahrain) cell in Iran and was even involved in military aspects of the organization. He was later granted asylum in the Denmark, in addition to being granted a Danish passport. In the mid-90s he established the Bahrain Human Rights Organization in Denmark, the predecessor to the BCHR, and succeeded to a certain extend in penetrating and infiltrating a number of other legitimate international human rights organizations, in an attempt to grant his (and by default the IFLB’s) activities a more Euro-centric appeal and a legitimate cover.”

In observing pro-government and pro-establishment blogs, there appears to be a pattern of operation. They invariably get down to questioning credibility of the opposition activists and those demanding reform. Most commonly used line is, that the person is aligned to Iran or the West, or person demanding change is doing so for personal benefit. This begs a question, isn't there a better way to debate an issue, without accusing the other side of being a foreign sell out?

Middle East Feels Threatened by Bloggers

Bhumika Ghimire — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 17:39:06 +0000

Such has been the role of bloggers and citizen journalists in fueling the region's season of fury against dictatorship, they are being seen as a threat to status quo. Now a campaign of arrest, intimidation and harassment is being launched against them.

In Bahrain, cyber activists and bloggers are facing intense scrutiny from the authorities and also from those who support the current government, says France24.

“Mohamed Al-Maskati, better known under the pseudonym of “Emoodz” has been held in an unknown location since the 30th of March. The young man has been particularly active on his blog and social networks, where he discussed recent events in his country and in the Arab World. According to the organization “Reporters without Borders“, Al-Maskati reportedly received threats via Twitter shortly before his arrest from a member of the royal family. Web users have been campaigning for his release ever since, by setting up a “Free emoodz” thread and this blog on the micro blogging site.

And like Al-Maskati, dozens of influential bloggers and campaigners for freedom of expression have been targeted by the authorities”

Dubai, supposedly open minded oasis with business and foreigner friendly environment, a blogger demanding reform was arrested. Eurasia Review says,

“An emirate paper said on Sunday that police in Dubai had arrested a blogger and a human rights activist, Ahmad Mansur, who has reportedly urged free elections and called for reforms in the country.

The National paper said police in Dubai had started a criminal investigation against Mansur but declined to specify the charges.”

Even more surprising that “oepn” Dubai's about face are events in Egypt. Middle East's season of fury's toast and pride is now slipping. Los Angeles Times reports that a blogger was sentenced to three years in prision for criticizing the military.

“Maikel Nabil Sanad was arrested March 28 after writing on a blog that “he was providing evidence proving that the military has been deceiving Egyptians” during and after the 18-day revolt that started Jan. 25 and ended with Mubarak’s ouster. A military council of top generals now runs the country.

Human rights advocates expressed puzzlement at Sanad’s sentence, especially after his lawyers were assured on Sunday that his judgment wouldn't be announced until Tuesday. But late Sunday he was discreetly found guilty and sentenced to jail.”

What sort of democracy was promised to the people of Egypt where criticizing military is a punishable crime? and the sentence is given out “discreetly”?

It is clear that those who desire and demand status quo are not willing to relent, they are willing to hit back at any effort to install truly open system. When “free” Egypt feels the need to fear bloggers, what can we expect from others who still proudly wear their autocracy?

Liberal Jewish Blogger Under Attack

Bhumika Ghimire — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 17:44:10 +0000

Richard Silverstein, a liberal Jewish blogger, has come under attack from right wing nationalists and religious hard liners. In his blog Tikun Olam, Silverstein has posted a statement sent to his lawyer from David Yerushalmi-who accusing him of libel.

Blogger Richard Silverstein. Image via HuffingtonPost

“I am reluctantly forced to revisit the statements your client, Richard Silverstein, has made about me on his blog. When he first attacked me personally and stated that I was a fascist, racist, and Kahanist, I ignored them, even as others of his ilk provided these baseless statements “legs” allowing countless more “eyes” the opportunity to read what your client understood and represented to be carefully calculated factual statements about me. These statements are demonstrably false and your client made them knowing they were false or acting recklessly in this regard. This recklessness I believe was established in his deposition testimony in the Neuwirth case.”

Yerushalmi is a Washington DC based lawyer. In 2010, ThinkProgress reported on his questionable views on Islam and Islamic law. Yerushalmi claimed in an article for American Thinker that,

“Islam was born in violence; it will die that way. Any wish to the contrary is sheer Pollyannaism. The same way the post World War II German youth were taught by their German teachers and political leaders to despise the fascism of their fathers, with strict laws extant still today restricting even speech that casts doubt on the Holocaust, so too must the Muslim youth be taught from the cradle to reject the religion of their forebears.

Richard Silverstein, a moderate voice on Israeli-Palestinian conflict, is target of strong criticism from many in the blogosphere. Jewlicious accuses him of

“..veritable personification of moral decrepitude?”

Israellycool went a step ahead and called him a pro-terror, anti-Israel blogger.

Committee to Protect Bloggers has a detailed post on legal troubles pushed on Silverstein's way and has also urged people to support Silverstein's work and his right to express his views.

What is in name? A Lot Says Facebook

Bhumika Ghimire — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 18:03:51 +0000

Facebook is now in the middle of scandal that has exposed the flimsiness of its no pseudonym policy. Andrea Petrou at Techeye.net says,

“The complaint against the company comes from a well-known Chinese commentator – Michael Anti – who has accused it of insulting him by closing his account. He hasn't been reported for bullying or similar, it's because he uses a pseudonym for a page he hosts.

The reason Facebook chose to close his account – it requires people to use their real names.

Born Zhao Jing, Anti has used the latter for over ten years and it's not uncommon for Chinese people to use English alternatives. Chinese people often pick English names and use them for communicating with foreigners.”

Michael Anti. Image via Wikimedia Commons.

It is interesting to note here that recently Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's dog got a page at the popular social networking site for himself. Raises obvious question, a dissidents work which heavily depends on networking an exchanging information through Facebook is less important that celebrating a dog?

True, the dog has a page and nor a profile so the real name rules don't apply, but still it shows Facebook's value system. Michael Anti did not come up with that name yesterday to hide from the Chinese authorities or that he is abusing his new name to impersonate someone. He has been using that name for over a decade now and even has a Harvard certificate to prove, where he completed fellowship. It is also important to note that he set up his profile in 2007. So for four years, Facebook was fine with the name Michael Anti, and now all of a sudden they find it unacceptable?

At Twitter, the reaction was swift and mostly against the Facebook policy. Rebecca MacKinnon, noted free speech advocate and one of the founders of Global Voices Online commented,

“Zuckerberg's dog is on Facebook but for Chinese blogger Michael Anti it's not so easy.”

Facebook has survived many scandals but this one is particularly concerning given the fact that now many activists and groups are using the site to organize and coordinate. Will there be mass exodus of activists from Facebook?

Is Urging Suicide Free Speech?

Bhumika Ghimire — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 15:42:00 +0000

A developing case in Minnesota raises serious questions on what free speech. According to Emily Gurnon at Pioneer Press,

“Former nurse William Melchert-Dinkel, 48, of Faribault has been charged with two felony counts of encouraging, advising or assisting another in committing suicide. After oral arguments Thursday morning, Rice County District Judge Thomas Neuville took the matter under advisement; he will issue a verdict within 20 days.”

The accused nurse here has confessed to encouraging two people to commit suicide-one in Canada and one in the United Kingdom; but his lawyer is arguing that his client's online advice is free speech.

“Using the screen names “cami,” “falcon_girl” and “Li dao,” Melchert-Dinkel posed as a young woman, a sympathetic emergency room nurse who had seen the results of botched suicides and recommended hanging as the most dependable method.”

What Dinkel said and did is deplorable and morbid, his profession adds to the sickness of his acts but can online cajoling and encouragement to commit suicide or to commit a crime be taken as a free speech issue and not as a criminal act?

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals’ judgement may explain what the court's feel when it comes to digital communications/images and proving actual harm.

Associated Press reports that,

“A federal appeals court has upheld the child pornography conviction of a New York man who superimposed the faces of teenage girls onto sexually explicit photographs of nude adults in his computer.”

The judges noted that the man's acts put the pictured girls psychological health in danger and also hurt their reputation. It was not proven that the man distributed the altered images, so it is interesting to note here that even though there is no proof of direct harm, the judges’ believed that since the girls were identifiable they were violated by the altered pictures.

Saudi women demand their rights, on Twitter

Bhumika Ghimire — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 18:17:08 +0000

It is season for change in the Middle East and Arab world and Saudi women don't want to be left behind. They are now taking their demand for equality online-at Twitter, Facebook, on forums and blogs.

Deborah Amos at Georgia Public Broadcasting reports that recent events have stirred political passions in Saudi Arabia.

“Duraa Ali, a 22-year-old journalism student dressed in a full abaya and face veil, asked at the forum if a woman could start a revolution in Saudi Arabia. Women are the ones with the least rights, she said to applause in the room.

Ali was studying in Bahrain when the protests began there. She was thrilled by the demands of Shiite protesters who challenged the Sunni royal family and disturbed by the violent reaction to those demands.”

At Twitter #saudiwomenrevolution has considerable following and more tweets in support and sometimes against the women's demands are added every day. It represents an important step in bringing out concerns of Saudi women out in the open and is contributing to the lively discussion on democracy and gender equality in the Arab Muslim world.

Here is a snippet of tweets for #saudiwomenrevolution

At Facebook, Saudi Women Revolution page has 591 supporters and growing. Although majority of posts here are in Arabic, there are some English comments and it has attracted support from non-Muslim men and women from various parts of the world. Cartoons depicting Saudi women and their daily struggles are eye opening, some very poignant.

As global support for Saudi women grows, authorities there are certainly uncomfortable with rising political consciousness among the public. James Nixon at Thniq says that,

“A group of intellectuals, human rights activists and lawyers met on February 10th to form Saudi Arabia's first political party, the Umma Islamic Party, demanding an end to the country's absolute monarchy.

All of them were arrested on February 18th, with authorities demanding they renounce their demands in return for their release.”

Tough ahead for Saudi women and women demanding change, but as events in Tunisia and Egypt prove-people power can never be ignored for long.

Advocacy Recap: Part II

Bhumika Ghimire — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 19:12:48 +0000

Last week, we looked back at the US government's handling of G20 summit protesters and pro-democracy bloggers in Vietnam facing persecution. Now let us talk about the Purdue University Professor who faced intense criticism for his views on homosexuality and Turkey's YouTube ban.

Professor Bert Chapman, a Government Information and Political Science Librarian, maintains a blog at Townhall.com titled Conservative Librarian. On October 27, he posted “An Economic Case Against Homosexuality”

“As a Christian, I agree with the biblical condemnation of the homosexual lifestyle. However, we are living in a nation and world that increasingly rejects biblical norms. To defend traditional sexual morality against the encroaching threat of homosexuality and other aberrant forms of sexual expression, we need to be able to do more than cite Bible verses. Fortunately, there are plenty of economic reasons for being against this lifestyle and I think as conservatives we need to be able to articulate why our nation cannot afford the extremely high financial costs of this lifestyle at a time when we are confronting dangerously high budget deficits, national debt, and personal debt.”

While some criticized the professor's post for being anti-gay and called for the University to fire him, there were more than handful of those who supported his rights to free expression and said that calling for his firing is attacking First Amendment rights.

Professor Chapman is still blogging at Conservative Librarian. Purdue University did not take any action against him. Going through his blog, I did not find any post regarding gays and lesbians after the controversial “An Economic Case Against Homosexuality”. The professor has stayed close to politics and international affairs.

On October 5, 2009, I discussed free speech issues in Turkey.

“Decision to block MySpace is not first step in Turkey's decision to police the internet. In 2008, blog host Blogger(owned by Google),popular video sharing site YouTube and about 850 sites were banned, according to a report published at The Christian science Monitor.

Decision to ban YouTube came after an “insulting” video on the country's founder Mustafa Kemal Atatürk appeared on the site.”

In November of 2010, just days after lifting ban on YouTube, Turkey re-instated the ban after a sex scandal. Los Angeles Times reported,

“Turkey has reimposed a ban on YouTube after the site refused to remove footage linked to a political sex scandal that erupted earlier this year.

The ban was reinstated just days after being lifted following a similar disagreement over videos, deemed illegal by authorities, that make fun of Turkey's founding figure Mustafa Kamel Ataturk.”

But a positive news from the region, recently Syria has decided to allow direct access to YouTube and Facebook-following turmoil in Egypt. According to AFP,

“In Damascus, Internet users said that for the first time since 2007, Syrians could directly log onto Facebook and YouTube without going through proxy servers abroad.

The authorities issued no statements regarding the development, but Syria's leading media and technology entrepreneur, Abdulsalam Haykal, told AFP that the request to lift the block “had reached Internet service providers.”

Let us hope that Turkey will re-evaluate its decision soon.