Archives for the tag Censorship
Apar GuptaPorn ban: Law on obscenity is a paradox unto itself
A labyrinth is one of the many metaphors employed to describe the confusion caused due to the lack of a clear path laid out by law. A recent example is India’s law on obscenity. Last weekend, the Department of Electronics and Information Technology issued directions to internet service providers to block access to 857 websites. Most hosted pornographic content, while others were comedy sites.
Charges against AIB are another sign that our hate speech laws need reform
Our goal has to be to reach legal standards that prevent any abuse. At its heart should be removing the tremendous subjectivity that permits the most easily offended to have their day in court as the author, artist or activist spends a night in jail.
Sitting Down For Patriotism
The case of M. Salman, a 25- year old philosophy student, arrested in Thiruvananthapuram on 19 August 2014, for his refusing to stand while the national anthem was played in a cinema during a screening, highlights the legal provisions that stifle dissent. He was finally granted bail on September 22, 2014, and is currently out on bail, but still faces the prospect of a life term in prison if found guilty of sedition by the judicial process.
The power of licences to censor
Any study of censorship has to commence with the power of licensing. Shortly after the War for Independence, our colonial masters realised that it was inefficient to enforce criminal sanction for each distinct act of dissent when the mode of expression itself could be prevented by prescribing a set of licensing conditions. Simply, why pulp the paper when you can seize the printing press?
How to challenge book bans and censorships legally
Shortly after completing my masters, I returned to active litigation in India and one of the first cases assigned to me by my employer was a case of book banning. The book, authored by a senior politician, was banned by a notification under Section 95 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Section 95 gives the state government the right to ban books that violate various provisions of the Indian Penal Code.
Table of Discontents
THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF VIEWER complaints received by the Broadcast Content Complaints Council (BCCC), a two-year-old organisation responsible for the regulation of objectionable content on Indian television, has been about the reality television show Bigg Boss.
MIB’s arbitrary bans
Last fortnight the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting shrugged off its regulatory lethargy and issued orders prohibiting the telecast of three private television channels. One of the channels which found itself in the crosshairs was Comedy Central for telecasting last year a stand up show which according to the Ministry, “offended good taste and decency”.
A flawed act #Sec66A
Rarely has one single section of the law spurred such intense debate on issues of free speech and the limits which should be placed on it for internet communications. The section in question is 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 which provides for a three year jail term for offensive communications.
Virtual Menace
The debate about Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, is growing heated. As more cases of its abuse surface, even Communications and IT Minister Kapil Sibal has begun to mull changes to the act. The key question to be probed is whether individual actions booked under the provision are isolated instances of abuse or the section itself flawed.