Land of Lime

It is very, very distressful to read about India’s unofficial blocking of domains such as *.blogspot and *.typepad. It is unofficial because no one would officially confirm it or deny it. we, the users, can’t access many blogs. Here is what I wrote for Churumuri.

By now this is an old story. It appears that the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has instructed Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to block specific websites. While the list is confidential and the authorities aren’t responding to any inquiries except with occasional standard bureaucratic bluster (of  ‘what’s your problem’ variety), affected blog-domains include *.blogspot and *.typepad.

This behavior is in line with something one would expect from Pakistan and China but not from world’s largest democracy. Details are murky, although blogosphere is abuzz with speculation. Boingboing story has this response from an Indian official:

This morning Shivam Vij managed to talk to Dr Gulshan Rai, director of CERT-IN, the only body authorised to issue directives to ISPs. His response: “Somebody must have asked for some sites to be blocked. What is your problem?”

The ISPs are still in denial but users can’t access blogs.

Has any Indian security agency (IB specifically) put in this request? Is national security a consideration in this instance? There is some speculation that terrorists are using blogs to communicate with each other. Even if it were to be true does blanket blocking of domains the right response? Should this be the sort of thoughtless, impractical response we should expect from the Indian state now, in the name of national security?

Here is the thing though. There are acceptable costs when it comes to national security. Increased security at public places such as airports and railway stations and perhaps even some surveillance seem reasonable as well as necessary. Indiscriminate blocking of blog-domains doesn’t make any sense, especially now that much important information is coming out through blogs from different parts of the world. Look at this site called siegeoflebabnon.blogspot.com, if you, Indian readers, can access it.

Going by what we have heard, I don’t think this is a case of censorship on the part of the government. It’s worse. This is what a minor bureaucrat would have asked for and gotten. Is it a surprise then that no one wants to offer a response?