Pressure is working -- Sibal: hands off the internet!
prajwal raju
From: "Ricken Patel - Avaaz.org" <av...@avaaz.org>
Date: Thu, 15 Dec 2011 07:27:17 -0500
Subject: Pressure is working -- Sibal: hands off the internet!
To: "prajw...@gmail.com" <prajw...@gmail.com>
The pressure is working! Sibal is backing off his promise to censor
our internet and now he has a meeting with key net companies tomorrow
-- let's supercharge our call, sign below and forward to everyone.
Dear friends across India,
Kapil Sibal is trying to censor what we see on the Internet. It's
crazy -- we don't live in China, this is a democracy! Let's use the
Internet and social media to get Sibal to withdraw his ridiculous
proposal.
Kapil Sibal, Telecom Minister, is trying to impose a gag order after a
website mocked Sonia Gandhi. Now he wants websites to take down
anything deemed "objectionable". What an overreaction -- in England
people make harsh jokes about the Queen with no consequences. If
enough of us tell Sibal it's his plan that's objectionable, he'll see
sense and withdraw it.
A national outcry is building right now. Let's join in and send a
clear and loud message to Sibal to grow a thicker skin and admit that
we're adult enough to read what we want on the net. Sign the petition,
and spread the word over the internet:
(CAMPAIGN_URL)
This is not the first time that internet freedom in India has been
under attack. Just this April, our government issued incredibly
restrictive rules that gives it the power to take down any site under
vague pretexts like curtailing blasphemy or protecting national
security. But this new rule would make internet censorship so much
worse – it forces internet providers to remove content before it’s
ever seen by the public. This is extreme by any standard -- even many
dictatorships grant more internet freedom than this.
Our government claims that this policy will protect India from
material that may hurt religious diversity, and from terrorists who
may use the internet to organize. But we know that internet censorship
also allows the government to clamp down on the right to dissent,
organize, and stand up for our rights – a keystone of any real
democracy.
India has 55 million registered internet users, and together we can
ensure that we’re a voice Sibal and his allies can’t ignore. Sign the
petition below and forward it to everyone you know – our signatures
will be delivered to Sibal directly.
(CAMPAIGN_URL)
Over the past few years, we’ve witnessed the internet’s power to
galvanize, unify and change society, from the Arab Spring to Anna
Hazare’s campaign against corruption. We’ve also seen the crippling
effect that internet censorship can have in countries like China and
Iran. Let’s unite and crush the most powerful censorship threat
India’s ever seen.
With hope and determination,
Emma, Jamie, Shibayan, Shivendra, Alex and the rest of the Avaaz team
Sources:
Is the government's gag plan a threat to freedom of expression? (DNA)
http://www.dnaindia.com/speakup/report_is-govts-gag-plan-a-threat-to-freedom-of-expression_1623202
Sibal tries to tame the net, infuriates many (Business Standard)
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/sibal-tries-to-tamenet-infuriates-many/457864/
India's Authoritarian Lapse (Wall Street Journal)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203413304577085952453304024.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
Why Sibal's objection to Internet content is uncalled for
http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-why-sibals-objection-to-internet-content-is-uncalled-for/20111208.htm
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