India Internet Filtering
A favorite topic for Asia watchers is to debate India vs. China - who to put your money on, and who will succeed? I say it’s not either-or. Both will work together and be powerhouses.
But I was surprised by this headline in Boingboing.net:
Report: Indian gov blocks Blogspot, Typepad, Geocities blogs
So it seems India has followed in China’s footsteps (for now) and blocked popular blog sites like Blogger.com and Typepad.com. Reports are rolling in that it is indeed true, with “fighting terrorism” being the justification and no announcement about when it will end.
For those in India, welcome to the life behind the Great Firewall. Essential reading:
- http://www.opennetinitiative.org/ - Documenting censorship
- http://ice.citizenlab.org/ - Nart’s blog about censorship
- http://www.boingboing.net/censorroute.html - list of anti-censor tools
- http://tor.eff.org/ - anonymous onion routing
We hope your stay will not not be long.
July 18th, 2006 03:09
[…] Andrew Lih » India Internet Filtering “So it seems India has followed in China’s footsteps (for now) and blocked popular blog sites like Blogger.com and Typepad.com.” (tags: India censorship freespeech blogs) […]
July 18th, 2006 09:00
Indien: Blog-Blockade als Anti-Terror-Maßnahme…
In Indien ist gestern offenbar der Zugang zu einigen bekannten Blog-Hostern gesperrt worden. Ich habe es bei Fons gelesen, der hat es bei Andrew Lih gelesen - und der hat es, wie auch Richard und Robert, zuerst bei BoingBoing entdeckt. Sowohl der Eintr…
July 18th, 2006 19:29
Yes, I still remember my Indian comrade said vividly, ‘Cathy, listen. This is how we see the situation. In ten years time, there will only be Chinese and Indians. So we better start dating us now.’
I guess I will try that line in London
lol
July 21st, 2006 19:30
It’s interesting to see more and more India v. China topics coming up, like this blogging blockade. I ended my subscription to Souteast Asian Journalists Assocation because one member in particular was filtering my emails to the group occassionally to prevent me talking about China as a part of Southeast Asia. In one email I can remember in particular, I remember the member told me that China was not Southeast Asia. I guess that distinguishment will have to be altered, eventually.
July 21st, 2006 19:31
Actually, I meant South Asian Journalists Association. But still, China not a part of South Asia? How?
July 21st, 2006 19:44
Well to be fair, China is normally not included in the classification of “South Asia,” even though via Tibet/Nepal area, they are abutting South Asia. Perhaps they would welcome postings re: China only if they related to India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, etc.
November 19th, 2007 20:42
It’s a shame what happened to Bangladesh. I hope the world steps up and helps them.