Freedom of Speech in India

India is a Democracy.  In order to be a democracy, certain things are expected to be in place, such as freedom of the press and little, or no censorship.  While one person would find it perfectly acceptable to publicize pornographic material and sexually explicit lyrics to a curious world for anybody to see, another views such an act as a negative influence on a society being destroyed by such material.  When two different positions collide in Indian judicial systems, decisions must be made to serve justice.  Reviews of the many cases spawned by these issues is a way to view how individual states and even federal governments interpret the law that is currently enacted.  Society desires to eradicate the "black" while replacing it with the "white" in order to create a just environment to live in.  The problem lies in the perception of what is "black" and "white."  What is good to a radical is not necessarily good for a conformist and vice versa.  While the Indian constitution guarantees the basic freedom of speech, it also has been adjusted to protect the rights of the citizens under the law.  Many aspects of these three issues need to be explored such as:  At what point is freedom taken away?  How far should our governing bodies go to protect peoples rights through the limitation of our freedom of speech?  Do people have a right to privacy from the law enforcing agencies of India?  If so, to what extent?  Is censorship a violation of the basic freedoms found in the Indian constitution?  While these questions will probably never have a suitable answer to everyone, this lesson provides documentation on how these issues have been addressed throughout recent history.  We will analyze and compare these issues in India to those of the United States.

Goals for the activity:

1. To become aware of the fundamental differences between freedom of speech defined by the Constitution of India aand that of the student's home country.
2. To become aware of groups who oppose the guidelines set forth in the Indian Constitution.
3. To view some of the issues that have arisen in Indian courts due to conflicts with privacy, censorship and freedom of speech.

Knowledge / skills / attitudes to be developed (behavioral objectives):

The student should see how the control of information is an infringement on core Indian values, and how the control of information can be rationalized.  Understand the concept of free speech and how it applies to citizens of India.

Procedure:

Pre-class activities:  Read the list of references listed in the "references" section, then complete the attached worksheet.
In-class activities: Review and discuss the worksheet questions and individual answers, then conduct an in-class debate on how freedom of speech impacts the lives of Indian citizens.  Compare these impacts to those of US citizens.  The participants of the debate should be given a copy of the background reference (found at: http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,35822,00.html ) and the interview listed in "additional references".  The instructor will start the debate based on the bolded sentences in the background and may direct the debate to other topics of privacy, freedom of speech, and censorship.

The instructor may use the "Critical Thinking Template" found at: http://courses.cs.vt.edu/~cs3604/support/Debates/Table.html  to organize and direct the class debate.
 

Background:

BANGALORE, India - With estimates that nearly 2 million Indian citizens will be online by 2001, the world's second-most populous country is looking at ways to regulate cyberspace.

India is proposing a federal information technology bill to be voted on next month (early 2000). One of India's premier law schools, based here, has plans to set up a national institute for cyber-legal studies and research.

"We have made our blueprint, and plan to shortly approach friends in the info-tech sector," said Dr. Nripen L. Mitra, director of the National Law School of India University. Bangalore, known as India's Silicon Valley, is a booming center for software and dot-com companies. By the late 1990s, the city's software exports comprised nearly 57 percent of India's total exports. The city has an estimated 230 info-tech companies, employing nearly 25,000 professionals.

Mitra said rapid growth is in need of swift responses.

"Law behaves like a traditional Hindu wife, staying seven steps behind the husband," he said.

The institute plans to research the problem of shifting business and trade to the cyber-media, and blending national and international standards. It is looking to sell the project to top Indian info-tech firms like Infosys and Wipro through collaboration with policy planners in the Indian government.

Some say the software sector has flourished in India precisely because of a lack of regulation. So while the framework for accepting electronic documents is welcome, businessmen say the government should stay out of trying to regulate much of the rest.

Senior Indian government officials, however, point to some shocking cases, arguing that there's a need to regulate the cyberjungle:

They cite cases where a popular Hindi film actress was depicted nude on the Internet using altered graphics. They also point to prominent cases of cybersquatting, where some small firms allegedly tried to snatch the trade names of huge newspapers.

"We had no remedies in such cases. Night and day, hackers are taking on portals, too," said Gulshan Rai, the Ministry of Information Technology's senior director.

Some Indian sites have also been the victims of hacking,­ especially after last year's federally-sanctioned nuclear tests in Rajasthan, near the Indo-Pakistan border.

**Scenarios based on the Wired News article found at: http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,35822,00.html ("India Eyes Cyberlaws" by Frederick Noronha, Apr. 25, 2000).
 

Interview
 

Below is an interview of an actual Indian citizen named Shashank Mehrotra.  The interview was conducted on April 29, 2000 by the original authors of this project description.  

Question 1: How widespread are PC's in India?  Are they found in every business and at every point of sale, or are they less common?  How about internet connectivity?

Answer: PC's are fairly common in the middle class and the upper middle class in India, which make up almost 200 to 250 million people. They are not integrated into every business, e.g. you would not have a PC in a small owner operated, neighbourhood grocery store (as opposed to a large chain). Most medium and big business however do use PCs for a variety of purposes which include, payrolls, accounting.... the larger ones also use them for things like ERP, BPR (Business Process Re-engineering) etc..

Internet connectivity is not very common in smaller cities. The big cities do have ISP and Internet connections but the low penetration rate of telephones has made things slower. However I believe Cable modems and DSL etc.. were just beginning to appear when I left in August. ISDN services are also being offered, and being used mostly by corporations.

The Internet has existed in India since the late 80's as part of the the ERNET or educational and research net a network operated by the DOE ) , but commercial Internet access came about in 1995 and was provided by a Government company initially called VSNL. Private ISPs have since been allowed and are now operating.

Check the following link for PC density: http://www.lk/rinsca7.htm
Check the following link for a focal point on the Indian software Industry. http://www.nasscom.org
The ERNET Site: http://www.eis.ernet.in/

Question 2: How strict is the censorship control in India compared to the US? What restrictions are there on cyberporn? Will people get fired if they visit pornographic sites at work?

Answer: The level of censorship is somewhat similar to the US. There is as such no censorship on pornographic sites. However laws related to E-commerce, cyberporn etc. are still being drafted. This is still an open issue and things like actually being able to block overseas content etc.. are now issues being debated. See: http://www.economictimes.com/guide/infotech.html

Question 3: What laws exist in India regarding crime evidence on computers. For example, if illegal material or activities is suspected of being on a person's computer, what is required for the authorities to have the right to confiscate and/or examine the computer?

Answer: The current laws do not really differentiate between computer and other crime, however the new IT act is taking all this into account and redrafting the meaning of crime to include cybercrime and make all these punishable. See the site for question 2. (This act may already have been passed, I'm not so sure). There are no current or convicted cases of computer fraud yet.

Question 4: What public court cases or debates have occurred that is centered around Freedom of Speech in India?

Answer: See the following newspaper sites to see a flavour of what actual newspapers publish, this will give you an idea of the kind of things they publish and the kind of freedom they have. http://www.timesofindia.com http://216.34.146.180/webdirectory/510pg1.htm

Question 5: Do you know of a web site or something similar that has documents analogous to the U.S. Constitution?

Answer: http://alfa.nic.in/const/const.htm
 
 

Worksheet:

Freedom of Speech:
 

1.  What does the Constitution of India say about Freedom of Speech?

2.  What kind of problems could arise from what India's constitution says about the freedom of speech?

3. Which is not a restriction on the free expression of religion?  (refer to http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Ithaca/1412/secularism.html)

(1) public order, morality and health;
(2) disagreements with others on the topic of conscience;
(3) regulation of non-religious activity associated with religious practice;
(4) social welfare and reform;
(5) throwing open of Hindu religious institutions of a public character to all classes of Hindus.

4. Is the Indian press free to publish reports of government cover-ups, corruption, incompetence, etc?  (refer to  http://www.timesofindia.com/today/01mlkn1.htm  and  http://www.timesofindia.com/today/01mdel1.htm)

(1) True
(2) False
 
 

Assessing outcomes:

The student will get a fair insight on Freedom of Speech in India. He/she should demonstrate a good understanding of these concepts by completing Worksheet. The student should complete a post class activity.  The student is to summarize the debate that took place in class.  The essay should be two pages long and the student should attach references applicable to his/her writing.  This post class activity will be turned in at the next class meeting.

Additional remarks:

All authors hold exclusive copyright to their respective articles.  This web page may be used for any purpose whatsoever, as long as the authors are given full credit.
 

Original Author contact information:

Morten Bergman <morten@vt.edu
John Dailey <jodailey@vt.edu
Andrew Etter <anetter@vt.edu
Eric Pastoor <epastoor@vt.edu
Jason Phillips <japhill6@mtndrew.cc.vt.edu
Patrick Raphael <praphael@vt.edu
Luke Scharf <luke@vt.edu

---

Page maintained by: anetter@vt.edu