Digital exile: On digital censorship

The government could be creating a system of arbitrary censorship

A decade-long trend (रुझान, प्रवृत्ति) in digital governance in India crescendoed last week when a slew of social media accounts operated by independent (स्वतंत्र, निष्पक्ष) activists (कार्यकर्ता, सामाजिक कार्यकर्ता) and journalists were blocked apparently for criticising the Union government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his government’s West Asia policies and the LPG crisis. In seven years, from 2014 to 2021, the number of URLs, posts, and accounts blocked ballooned from 470 to 9,800; since then, there is evidence that entire accounts, especially if they were publishing politically unfavourable (प्रतिकूल, आलोचनात्मक) comments, were being blocked. There was a wave of censorship (surge of suppression, mass restriction, widespread silencing) during the farmers’ protest in 2020-21; the government restored (बहाल करना, पुनः स्थापित करना) many accounts after international outcry (जोरदार विरोध, जन-आक्रोश) but this also demonstrated (प्रदर्शित करना, सिद्ध करना) that it was not beyond mass censorship (large-scale suppression, widespread gagging, wholesale restriction, blanket censorship). Similarly, the government used emergency powers under the IT Rules to block links to a BBC documentary in 2023, which also expanded the definition of what constituted a “threat to public order (लोक व्यवस्था, कानून-व्यवस्था)”. But when Twitter (now X) challenged (चुनौती देना, अदालत में आपत्ति करना) several blocking orders, between 2021 and 2022, in the Karnataka High Court, the High Court dismissed (खारिज करना, अस्वीकार करना) the plea (याचिका, अपील) and fined Twitter, further emboldening (हिम्मत बढ़ाना, साहस देना) the state to censor accounts.

In Shreya Singhal (2015), the Supreme Court of India upheld Section 69A of the IT Act 2000 precisely because of (due to, on account of, as a result of, owing to) its procedural (administrative, regulatory) safeguards, including requiring reasoned (logical, rational, well-thought-out, justified) orders and judicial review. In practice (practically, in reality, functionally, effectively), however, the government has been diluting (to deliberately weaken, undermine, diminish, reduce) the safeguards (protection, defense, preventive measure) through an expansive (road, wide-ranging, comprehensive, sweeping) use of Rule 16 of the 2009 Blocking Rules (an administrative rule explicitly mandating that strict confidentiality shall be maintained regarding all the requests and complaints received and subsequent actions taken by the government to block digital content), which requires blocking proceedings (legal action, hearing) to be confidential (secret, classified, undisclosed, private). When this stipulation (requirement, condition, provision, clause) is invoked (to officially cite, refer to, apply, use) to withhold (conceal, keep back, suppress, retain) blocking orders or their reasons from affected parties, it undermines (weaken, compromise, sabotage, subvert) their ability to challenge the action in court, eroding the very safeguards that justified the constitutionality of Section 69A. The 2009 Rules also require blocking orders to be reviewed by a committee composed under the IT Rules 2009 (the Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking for Access of Information by Public) Rules, 2009, a set of procedural regulations delineating the administrative processes, review mechanisms, and safeguards the government must follow when blocking public access to digital information), yet this is an entirely executive body (administrative authority, government agency, administrative branch, enforcement arm) and has never overturned (cancel, reverse, nullify, void, repeal) a government blocking order. In effect (practically, essentially, in reality, functionally), the government is openly (transparently, publicly, explicitly, blatantly) and systematically (methodically, meticulously, deliberately, regularly) bypassing the right to be heard and violating (breach, infringe, contravene, transgress) the doctrine of proportionality (a legal principle requiring that any government action restricting constitutional rights must be rationally suitable, strictly necessary, and proportionate to the legitimate objective it seeks to achieve, preventing arbitrary or excessive state action). Rule 16 is a procedural rule, yet the government is using it to override (overrule, supersede, countermand, quash, revoke, cancel) the constitutional right (a deeply fundamental freedom or civic entitlement guaranteed and strictly protected by the supreme constitutional law of a sovereign nation; fundamental right, legal entitlement, statutory freedom) to free speech (the fundamental democratic and constitutional right to openly express one’s opinions, criticisms, and ideas without fear of government retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction; freedom of expression) while shielding (protect, defend, guard, insulate) itself from judicial review. A person’s entire account being blocked amounts to (constitute, equal, represent, be equivalent to) a digital exile (निर्वासन, देश निकाला, बहिष्कार), removing the person from the public square (public forum, digital arena, civic space, democratic forum), which is a hallmark (defining characteristic, trademark, sign, indicator) of an authoritarian government rather than of a liberal democracy. The government’s plan to decentralise blocking powers to multiple Ministries could effectively create a regime of arbitrary censorship (capricious suppression, unjustified gagging, subjective restriction, erratic control), where any department can silence (muzzle, gag, suppress, censor) a critic (opponent, dissenter, fault-finder, censurer, nitpicker) without the specialised (specific, focused, dedicated) oversight, however flawed (defective, faulty, imperfect, deficient), of the IT Ministry.

Courtesy: The Hindu

Important Word List With Meaning

1.exile (noun)

Hindi Meaning - निर्वासन, देश निकाला, बहिष्कार
English Meaning - banishment, expulsion, deportation, exclusion.

2.decade (noun)

Hindi Meaning - दशक
English Meaning - a consecutive period of ten years; ten-year period.

3.trend (noun)

Hindi Meaning - रुझान, प्रवृत्ति
English Meaning - tendency, pattern.

4.independent (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - स्वतंत्र, निष्पक्ष
English Meaning - self-supporting, impartial, non-partisan.

5.activist (noun)

Hindi Meaning - कार्यकर्ता, सामाजिक कार्यकर्ता
English Meaning - an individual who actively campaigns and mobilizes to bring about systemic political, social, or digital change; campaigner, advocate, reformist, champion.

6.unfavourable (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - प्रतिकूल, आलोचनात्मक
English Meaning - critical, adverse, hostile, disapproving.

7.restore (verb)

Hindi Meaning - बहाल करना, पुनः स्थापित करना
English Meaning - reinstate, bring back, return.

8.outcry (noun)

Hindi Meaning - जोरदार विरोध, जन-आक्रोश
English Meaning - a strong, widespread, and highly public expression of protest, anger, or systemic disapproval; protest, uproar, objection, clamour.

9.international outcry (noun)

Hindi Meaning - अंतरराष्ट्रीय विरोध, वैश्विक आक्रोश
English Meaning - global protest, worldwide uproar, global condemnation, international backlash.

10.demonstrate (verb)

Hindi Meaning - प्रदर्शित करना, सिद्ध करना
English Meaning - show, indicate, reveal, prove.

11.public order (noun)

Hindi Meaning - लोक व्यवस्था, कानून-व्यवस्था
English Meaning - the foundational condition of a society characterized by the absence of widespread criminal disruption, violence, or severe civil unrest, often cited to justify executive action; social stability, civil peace, law and order, societal harmony.

12.challenge (verb)

Hindi Meaning - चुनौती देना, अदालत में आपत्ति करना
English Meaning - dispute, object to, question (in a court of law).

13.dismiss (verb)

Hindi Meaning - खारिज करना, अस्वीकार करना
English Meaning - reject, throw out, turn down, deny.

14.plea (noun)

Hindi Meaning - याचिका, अपील
English Meaning - appeal, petition, application, suit.

15.embolden (verb)

Hindi Meaning - हिम्मत बढ़ाना, साहस देना
English Meaning - encourage, strengthen, fortify, empower.

16.further (adverb)

English Meaning - additionally, beyond that.

17.because of (phrase)

English Meaning - due to, on account of, as a result of, owing to.

18.procedural (adjective)

English Meaning - administrative, regulatory.

19.safeguard (noun)

English Meaning - protection, defense, preventive measure.

20.In practice (phrase)

English Meaning - practically, in reality, functionally, effectively.

21.digital exile (noun)

English Meaning - the systemic state of being completely banished or excluded from online platforms and the digital public sphere; digital banishment, online exclusion.

22.censorship (noun)

English Meaning - the suppression or prohibition of speech, public communication, or digital content that is considered politically unacceptable or a threat to security; suppression, gagging, silencing, restriction.

23.digital censorship (noun)

English Meaning - online suppression, internet control, cyber censorship, digital gag.

24.arbitrary (adjective)

English Meaning - based on random choice, personal whim, or unchecked executive power, rather than any reasonable or statutory law; capricious, subjective, discretionary, autocratic.

25.arbitrary censorship (noun)

English Meaning - capricious suppression, unjustified gagging, subjective restriction, erratic control.

26.decade-long (adjective)

English Meaning - ten-year, decadal.

27.digital governance (noun)

English Meaning - cyber administration, internet regulation, digital regulation, e-governance.

28.crescendo (verb)

English Meaning - to gradually increase in intensity, strictness, or political force, ultimately reaching a peak or climax; escalate, peak, climax, intensify.

29.a slew of (phrase)

English Meaning - a notably large number of something; a lot of, a host of, an array of, a multitude of.

30.account (noun)

English Meaning - a registered digital profile or handle on a social media platform used for public expression and sharing information; profile, handle, digital identity, user page.

31.wave of censorship (noun)

English Meaning - surge of suppression, mass restriction, widespread silencing.

32.mass censorship (noun)

English Meaning - large-scale suppression, widespread gagging, wholesale restriction, blanket censorship.

33.reasoned (adjective)

English Meaning - logical, rational, well-thought-out, justified.

34.however (adverb)

English Meaning - nevertheless, nonetheless, yet, on the other hand.

35.dilute (verb)

English Meaning - to deliberately weaken, undermine, diminish, reduce.

36.expansive (adjective)

English Meaning - road, wide-ranging, comprehensive, sweeping.

37.Rule 16 of the 2009 Blocking Rules (proper noun)

English Meaning - an administrative rule explicitly mandating that strict confidentiality shall be maintained regarding all the requests and complaints received and subsequent actions taken by the government to block digital content.

38.proceeding (noun)

English Meaning - legal action, hearing.

39.confidential (adjective)

English Meaning - secret, classified, undisclosed, private.

40.stipulation (noun)

English Meaning - requirement, condition, provision, clause.

41.invoke (verb)

English Meaning - to officially cite, refer to, apply, use.

42.withhold (verb)

English Meaning - conceal, keep back, suppress, retain.

43.undermine (verb)

English Meaning - weaken, compromise, sabotage, subvert.

44.IT Rules 2009 (proper noun)

English Meaning - the Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking for Access of Information by Public) Rules, 2009, a set of procedural regulations delineating the administrative processes, review mechanisms, and safeguards the government must follow when blocking public access to digital information.

45.yet (conjunction)

English Meaning - but, nevertheless, still, however.

46.executive body (noun)

English Meaning - administrative authority, government agency, administrative branch, enforcement arm.

47.overturn (verb)

English Meaning - cancel, reverse, nullify, void, repeal.

48.in effect (phrase)

English Meaning - practically, essentially, in reality, functionally.

49.openly (adverb)

English Meaning - transparently, publicly, explicitly, blatantly.

50.systematically (adverb)

English Meaning - methodically, meticulously, deliberately, regularly.

51.bypass (verb)

English Meaning - to deliberately avoid; circumvent, side-step, evade, skip.

52.violate (verb)

English Meaning - breach, infringe, contravene, transgress.

53.doctrine of proportionality (noun)

English Meaning - a legal principle requiring that any government action restricting constitutional rights must be rationally suitable, strictly necessary, and proportionate to the legitimate objective it seeks to achieve, preventing arbitrary or excessive state action.

54.proportionality (noun)

English Meaning - commensurateness, balance, appropriateness.

55.override (verb)

English Meaning - overrule, supersede, countermand, quash, revoke, cancel.

56.constitutional right (noun)

English Meaning - a deeply fundamental freedom or civic entitlement guaranteed and strictly protected by the supreme constitutional law of a sovereign nation; fundamental right, legal entitlement, statutory freedom.

57.free speech (noun)

English Meaning - the fundamental democratic and constitutional right to openly express one’s opinions, criticisms, and ideas without fear of government retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction; freedom of expression.

58.shield (verb)

English Meaning - protect, defend, guard, insulate.

59.amount to (phrase)

English Meaning - constitute, equal, represent, be equivalent to.

60.public square (noun)

English Meaning - public forum, digital arena, civic space, democratic forum.

61.hallmark (noun)

English Meaning - defining characteristic, trademark, sign, indicator.

62.silence (verb)

English Meaning - muzzle, gag, suppress, censor.

63.critic (noun)

English Meaning - opponent, dissenter, fault-finder, censurer, nitpicker.