When the Watchdogs Are Silenced: India's Crackdown on Those Documenting Online Censorship
On November 3, our colleagues at the Software Freedom Law Center, India (SFLC.in) received notifications from X that the Delhi Police had issued takedown requests targeting 42 URLs. Among the accounts and posts targeted were those belonging to SFLC.in , the Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF), and X account @geoblockedindia, as well as posts documenting legal notices and instances of online…
The Software Freedom Law Center in India (SFLC.in) and the Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) are facing legal challenges from X, including takedown requests and legal notices, due to their documentation of online censorship and restrictions. The organizations are accused of defaming the Hindu nationalist organization Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), engaging in hate speech, and posing safety and security concerns.
However, the context surrounding these allegations is troubling, as the entities being targeted are the very ones trying to shed light on online censorship and restrictions, thus promoting transparency and accountability. Documenting government censorship is a crucial task in a country where such actions are often opaque, and serves to inform the public about the extent and nature of speech restrictions.
This reporting is not an endorsement of the restricted content, but rather an exercise in transparency and accountability, which allows journalists, researchers, civil society organizations, and the public to understand how governments exercise their power over the information landscape.
Brief written by urgent.news from EFF Deeplinks's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
