When Mark Zuckerberg launched Internet.org in India in February, it was presented as an act of altruism. “Imagine a world where everyone had access to education and healthcare information. A world where farmers could look up information to improve their crop yields, and students could consult Wikipedia to help out with their homework,” declared the…
Highlighting the importance of skill development in making a success of the National Digital Literacy Mission and Digital India Campaign of the Government of India, the National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT), a body with the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY), Ministry of Communications & IT, Government of India laid the…
Earlier this year, India’s Ministry of Home Affairs used an extensive arsenal of vague and overbroad laws to muzzle the world’s largest environmental watchdog, Greenpeace International. Using seemingly innocuous provisions in the Indian Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act 2010, the government effectively silenced criticism of a controversial nuclear power plant by freezing the bank account of Greenpeace…
Human rights activists have called on India to reform or repeal laws that threaten free expression in the world’s largest democracy and muzzle charities such as environmental group Greenpeace. Some laws are not only silencing marginal voices but are also fuelling graft, a report by PEN International, a London-based group of writers promoting freedom of…
Last week, Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), in collaboration with the Global Commission on Internet Governance (GCIG), hosted a conference on Internet governance and cybersecurity. The conference gathered a variety of experts to discuss issues pertaining to Internet governance, human rights, data protection and privacy, digital trade, innovation and security. The…
Internet.org’s offer of access to selected websites and services without data charges has been criticized by over 60 digital rights groups around the world for, among other things, increasing inequality while undermining net neutrality. The organizations, some of whom have worked in the area of providing connectivity to the poor, on Monday wrote an open…