Did This Blog Get Censored?

When Kapil Sibal came up with this brainwave to demand that sites like Google, Facebook and Yahoo! pre-screen all user generated content to prevent “disparaging, inflammatory or defamatory” content from being posted, my first reaction was that Sibal is a moron: does he not understand that what he asks for is impossible? That the only “solution” is blocking out the Net altogether? Or is that what our great telecom minister wants? Is he anti-freedom of speech?

I am in total agreement with Mike Masnick’s comment on this and similar directives in other parts of the world, including the West:

“Seriously, we're seeing this kind of insanity more and more these days, where politicians, who clearly have absolutely no freaking clue about the technology they're regulating, are coming up with positively insane suggestions, with no comprehension about the ramifications.”

But surely even Sibal couldn’t be that dumb. The real reason is sycophancy: here’s what he did at the meeting with the guys from the Internet’s biggest companies:

“At the meeting, Mr. Sibal showed attendees a Facebook page that maligned the Congress Party’s president, Sonia Gandhi. “This is unacceptable,” he told attendees, the executive said, and he asked them to find a way to monitor what is posted on their sites.”

Really, Sibal? So your spokesperson, Manish Tiwari, is allowed to call Anna corrupt but we, the people that scum like you claim to represent, cannot criticize Sonia (and presumably Rahul too)? And then they ask why the urban middle class doesn’t vote or participate in politics. We like freedom of speech, we believe in the right to criticize and we love to surf the Net: obviously, we want everything that the “leaders” of this country don’t.

I am curious to see if anyone will be able to read this blog. Or if Sibal will get his way and suppress this blog?

Comments

  1. KumarDecember 7, 2011 at 8:52 PM

    Sibal is surpassing himself in silliness on each day passing. (He is competing with many of his colleagues in this respect!) It is he who needs continuous censoring, though he wrongly believes that the government should gag anyone speaking against it!

    (Make no mistake: the opposition has its "Sibals" too. Today the opposition may pretend to make a protest against any gag action by the present government, if so required for populism. They know that when they come into power, gag would suit them also wonderfully. So, they would actually prefer gag enforcement only.)

    For all governments, there are always only two options: Either aim at reasonable governance, or, mess up governance and gag all those who dare to criticize! (The third option of living with criticism / facing criticism with proper defense or clarity is never a serious consideration for a politician. That would call for intellectual honesty of which there is great paucity in politics.)

    Let's enjoy at least the freedom to express our views till the day the gag finishes us off!

    ReplyDelete

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