The End of Relatively Unregulated Communications via the Net???

[Sukla Sen]

Here comes the end of internet as the medium for communication without state monitoring!?

One more decisive step towards the death of free speech and democracy itself?

At least submit your response here: <https://www.civis.vote/consultations/384/read>. By 9th November.

Click on <https://twitter.com/Anupam_Guha/status/1583802003578572801> for the content to be submitted.

Here's, however, a suggested sample :

Chapter 2 part 21 of the draft bill provides: "telecommunication services" would mean

any and every form of communication services via the net e.g. whatsapp, telegram, signal etc, but also any forum like reddit, any messaging app on any random website, and zoom/skype etc apart from email, FB etc.

Then, chapter 3 part 2 and 3 provide that the central govt is the sole arbiter on which company gets a license to provide said telecom services.

Further ahead, chapter 4 part 7 and 8 provide that in order to get a license the company must get the identity of the user and also no anon messages can be sent.

Thus, the bill essentially says that all internet communication including emails will confirm your identity and all communication services will keep a log of your identity. So again, no zoom/skype, no wa/telegram/signal, no reddit, no social media, no nothing.

That's meant to be nothing less than a hammer-blow to the right to privacy -- which a nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court has determined to be a fundamental right -- and the right to free speech -- one of the corner stones of "democracy" itself -- as well.

Hence, these and such other provisions, if any, must be summarily dropped.