The Little One and I discussed the blogblock at length. BBC has now covered the story about Govt banning certain blogs in India.
I think we were both in agreement that surely the bloggers' reaction was irrational and unjust. If you read through some of these posts from different blogs, it almost seems like the Govt brought all the bloggers into jail. Some of these blogs, Ultrabrown , Sepia Mutiny,Desi Pundit
and the new forum against the bloggers on Wikipedia try to act as information points but also rage at the GoI for taking this step.
I sympathise with their rant against the incompetency of the ISP's and the general ineptitude of our cyber police. Outlook ran this article and Indian Express this one detailing the websites banned and the disorder and confusion in trying to do this. It rightly identifies that the Govt had planned only to ban certain websites and blogs which they believed either incited communal hatred or were used by terrorists to communicate. The article then records the miscommunication within the government and its bodies in detailing and carrying out this order. To most rational, level-minded people this is a clear case of beureaucratic mismanagment not a case of dictatorial repression as everyone seems to suggest.
I feel aggrieved that a community as educated and important cant see the logic in the governments action. Here we have a community of bloggers moaning about the lack of government response to the attack, and when the government decides to do something sensible to prevent the possible communal repercussions of this attack, they criticise and file petitions to demand their freedom of speech.
Guys, lets have perspective. I really wish the terrorists did communicate by blogs and orchestrate their next attack through a website just to shut up this stupid response by bloggers.
The worse problem is that there is such righteous outrage at the incident that not too many people are willing to stand up and criticise the blogging community for their over-reaction.
To end, if the GoI is so incompetent then surely the bloggers are bright enough to find a way to blog and get around the problem. Email people, phone calls...The WORLD did turn without the Internet!!!
3 comments:
ok, so here's the deal.
u know what my views are so i won't repeat it. let's put it this way. banning blogs on the grounds that they are "anti-India" is stupid and wrong. I mean does that mean Indians can't read the blogs of Pakistanis and so on, esp those who disagree with Indian policy? I am not in favour of this sort of censorship. Yet, I'm well aware that freedom of speech is not limitless. When your freedom of speech violates laws (for instance say child pornography websites, or terrorist ones), of course they should be clamped down upon.
So yes, censorship of this sort: let's ban blogs because ppl could disagree with govt policy on them is wrong.
BUT, look at the reaction of the blogging community. As I told you yesterday, this isn't the greatest injustice being perpetrated in India today. To expect that governmental policy will be overturned in a matter of days when so many other policies affecting lives and livelihoods have taken decades of activism to overturn, is a reflection of the presumption of the middle class.
Interestingly, I can't access the Hinduunity website, not even using a Proxy server. Also for some reason the govt has banned the use of Geocities (I don't see any hoo haa about that!).
Anyway, you know all this so no point repeating myself :)
so it seems like the ban has been lifted. btw this news item has a list of the blogs in question. some of them are really strange...
http://in.rediff.com/news/2006/jul/19blogs.htm
So, the bloggers did protest against the Geocities ban as well. However, I dont think this ban on bloggers was against websites disagreeing with Govt policy, but rather those that might have incited "undue religious fervour". Somehow, I cant see this ban,especially temporary and in light of a terrorist attack, be an encroachment on freedom of speech.
Anyway..people will regain their senses.
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