Tag Archives: China

Internet Censorship: India HAS become the new China

It is good to see that public opinion is growing when it comes to internet censorship in the country. A lot of people say that we are becoming the new China. Sadly, looking at the latest list of web pages blocked by the Indian government, I can safely say, we have become the new China.

List of web pages blocked by the Indian government in August 2012

I can understand government targeting individual web pages with content that is against the law of the land. However, the kind of blocks we are seeing today is so broad that it defies common sense.

The latest list in fact include search results on social networks like Twitter, YouTube and even Google+. Funny considering most mainstream media still call Google+ a ghost town. Our government is so afraid of public opinion that they are targeting mediums that are used by 3-5% of the total population!

Blocking individual Twitter/Blogging accounts make sense because they are still targeting individuals who can probably fight back (courts?). But search results? That affect each and every member of the service.

This is exactly what China do whenever there is a national scandal… Block keywords on almost all online channels so that the people in the country cannot search for them.

There is one good thing in the latest list… The people responsible for picking the links have clearly stated that the ISPs should not block entire domains. We have seen this happen before when entire networks were made inaccessible (Blogger, TypePad and so on).

I guess it is time to accept that we have become China when it comes to censorship on the internet. And here I was angry about using a VPN solution to get around torrent throttling on airtel broadband.

Instead of establishing network neutrality laws to ensure that people in this country have access to free flowing information on the internet, I guess we would soon have laws to ensure that such orders are not challenged in the court of law in the future.

MotoGP guys seriously have guts!

There is no doubt that MotoGP is one of the most dangerous motorsport in the world.

The riders have proved their daredevilry once again by saying that they might protest against China’s stance on Tibet.

Valentino Rossi was quoted as saying: “All the world is with Tibet. But we need to be careful, or else they will arrest all of us.”

Loris Capirossi added: “I am 100 percent behind Tibet. We know that to demonstrate against the Chinese regime is dangerous but we will see if we can do something.”

For India, only Baichung Bhutia and Kiran Bedi have stood up for Tibet’s rights.

Tibet and Beijing Olympics

Baichung Bhutia turned out be brave while Gurbachan Singh Randhawa turned out to be a wuss! #

Bhutia has refused to carry the Olympic torch saying: ‘‘I sympathize with the Tibetan cause. I have many friends in Sikkim who follow Buddhism. This is my way of standing by the people of Tibet and their struggle. I abhor violence in any form.’’

For once, I am proud of you mate!

Randhawa had this excuse: ‘‘I have received an invitation to run with the Olympic torch and I will proudly do it. I know about what is going on in Tibet but the Indian government is not protesting. So why should I?’’

Umm… Be a man. Form your own opinions!

Suresh Kalmadi, president of the IOA of course has no idea on what is going on: ‘‘The fax has not reached me as yet since I’m not in my office”.

Just read on Aamir Khan’s blog. He is going to carry the torch. I am so disappointed.

Chinese Embassy in Delhi is like Fort Knox!

While coming back from Delhi I happened to pass through the Chinese embassy. That place was like a practical Fort Knox! The police stationed there would easily outnumber the security guards at the Prime Minister’s residence. What an amusing scenario…

Strangely, I cannot find my TIBET WILL BE FREE tee-shirt at my place… Must be the work of Chinese secret services.