India got outraged when they heard Sibal talk about censoring Facebook. First couple of days, they 'dharna-ed' in front of his house with placards. They prayed that Sibal-Mamu would 'get well soon' (Munna Bhai reference) and were furious that Sibal would even think about trespassing on their God given right to the freedom of expression.
To tell you the truth, I was amazed. I was pleasantly surprised that Indians cared to protest. To see that people cared enough to feel threatened by what Sibal was tempted to do. On the face of it, removing sites that are 'anti-social' or 'anti-religious' sounds very reasonable. But censoring the social media is a slippery slope. It will start with anti-religious pages now, but it can just end up being like China, where TV shows which ask people to vote for the contestants are banned because the government thinks it will give people wrong ideas (like, that they should be able to make decisions) This sets a bad precedent and is ripe to get exploited, especially by people like Sibal.
Thankfully, people here got pissed that Sibal was intruding upon their right to expression. And fairly so; you have your rights only when you are willing to protect them. Sibal had to back off.
Thankfully, people here got pissed that Sibal was intruding upon their right to expression. And fairly so; you have your rights only when you are willing to protect them. Sibal had to back off.
People 1, Sibal 0.
My euphoria was short-lived though. Last Sunday, I saw a news item about how a Delhi Court asked the same websites to remove the objectionable content, and there was no reaction from anyone!
Well played Sibal.
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