India tightens the screws on online dissent

25 January 2024

Published in: The Economist

The Telecoms Act allows the govt to demand that mobile operators and internet providers intercept or block messages without judicial authorisation. It also requires that the intercepted msgs are provided in an “intelligible format”, laying the legal gr work for demands to undermine the encryption that protects messages in apps such as WhatsApp.

▪️ India has long had a tricky relationship with free speech. Its police regularly arrest people for posts on SM under existing laws.

▪️ In a large svy last yr by csds-Lokniti, a pollster, 65% of respondents said they were very or somewhat scared of posting their pol or social opinions online for fear of legal action. Website blocking orders have ballooned from 2,799 in 2018 to 6,775 in 2022.