Sunday, December 25, 2011

The Hindu : Cities / Bangalore : Internet freedom: caught in the crossfire

How do we find a middle ground between accountability and freedom of expression?

Earlier this week, a Delhi court issued summons to top Internet firms named in a petition for hosting “offensive and hurtful” content on the Web, social media in particular. While this has revived the controversial debate, triggered this month by Union IT and Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal laying the onus of “pre-screening” content — only to backtrack later — on Internet companies or intermediaries, critics argue that this will stifle “freedom” on the Internet as we know it.

Internet companies, in response, have taken the high road as custodians of a “free society” wanting to protect “differing views”, as long as it is legal. They have also argued that it is virtually impossible to monitor the vast, enormous troves of data that enter their servers by the second.





The Hindu : Cities / Bangalore : Internet freedom: caught in the crossfire

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