Apar GuptaAn authoritarian government with a supermajority returns as a humbled coalition. The elections see a sustained call to accountability by content creators for its previous ten years in power. What does it do? I write in The Hindu about how the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting proposes a license raj for content creators through the Broadcasting Bill, 2024.
Archives for the category Op-ed
When control is disguised as reform
Three recent judicial decisions have led to attacks on the Supreme Court’s legitimacy. On February 15, the Court declared electoral bonds unconstitutional, stating that the “right to know supersedes anonymity.” On May 10, the Court granted interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal saying, “We… reject the argument that the reasoning… results in grant of privilege or special status to politicians.”
Why Big Tech and the Modi Government Are Far From Adversarial
Over the past decade most tech CEOs have done pit stops in India with elaborate public communications in meetings with the Prime Minister.
The Flight of Rights
Today, technological solutions like DigiYatra, often hailed as panaceas, rather than mitigating a passenger’s woe only add to their misery. This is a pattern that is widespread across several deployments of what is today termed as Digital Public Infrastructure.
Time for a Tech Manifesto
Currently, the Indian voter is not even offered a choice in the matter, leaving aside issues of trust or the ability of a political party to implement its manifesto if it comes to power. This lack of offer by political parties manifests in the lack of a constituency.
In issuing AI advisory, MEITY becomes a deity
There has been a policy flip-flop on an ‘illegal’ MEITY advisory on Artificial Intelligence, but it refuses to admit its mistake
Telecom law upgrades for a digital authoritarian state
The Telecom Bill 2023 extends the colonial architecture of regulation to digital authoritarianism, marking India’s transformation to a ‘rashtra’.
With Cleverly Drafted Telecom Bill, Government Tightens Grip on Digital India
The Bill is one of several laws that the Union government has passed or proposed to increase state power, decrease accountability and transparency and threaten ordinary citizens.
Old censorship on a new medium
The engine of censorship has been overhauled for the digital age, as the Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill shows.
A Weak Defence
Viewed forensically, the statements in Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw’s press conference reveal a lack of good faith in investigating the invasion of personal privacy and democratic functioning of Opposition parliamentarians