Bloggers upset over clampdown
Mumbai: The internet has once again proved to be the government’s Achilles’ heel. Immediately after the 7/11, the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) issued a fiat to 150 odd internet service providers (ISPs) to clamp down on a handful of sites, including a few popular blogs. The move has attracted severe flak from the blogging community, which has now gone into a funk. Most of them reckon the clampdown amounts to repression of free speech and that the government has overstepped its bounds.
A DoT official admitted they had asked the ISPs to block a few sites. Though he did not name the sites, he cited intelligence reports that confirmed how members of the banned organisations were using certain blogs to transmit messages to members. And unlike e-mails that can be tracked, blogs cannot be tracked as easily. Which is why, a clampdown was essential.
The DoT letter has asked the ISPs to block sites like hindunity.org and exposingtheleft.blogspot.com, though it did not state the reasons for its action.
Trying to block specific blogs though, bloggers claim, the entire community was victimised. They said popular blogging sites like blogspot.com and typepad.com remained inaccessible throughout the day.
The outcome was confusion. When TOI contacted MTNL, a major ISP in Mumbai and Delhi, it vehemently denied having received any such directive. However, at least three large ISPs in Delhi and Mumbai, all of whom spoke off the record, confirmed they did receive communication from the DoT asking them to block a few sites. But they were quick to say this did not include popular blogger jaunts like Blogspot. “If they did pass such an order, it will be a public relations disaster for the government,’’ one of them said.
Internet users say the government action to block sites is not entirely foolproof. There are far too many places bloggers hang out online like livejournal.com and myspace.com. These continue to be operational and unaffected by the socalled clampdown.
More importantly, the block is still not national. Internet users in smaller cities are still able to access sites that were apparently blocked. However, clarifies an ISP Association of India official: “The 150 ISPs are spread all over the country and they will implement the ban after they receive the communication.’’
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