“We have a right to freedom of speech and expression. The government cannot bring in frivolous IT laws to curtail our basic rights. Internet censorship is the plan of those who want to suppress the people of this country,” exclaimed a young man at the protest by Anonymous India against growing Internet censorship by the government.
Around 200 people, many of them wearing masks to symbolise the anonymity associated with their movement, gathered at Jantar Mantar on Saturday evening and voiced their angst against the government’s attempts to curtail people’s right to “spread knowledge and attain knowledge” over cyber space.
The demonstration was largely against the Information Technology (Intermediaries Guidelines) Rules, 2011. “Government has enacted laws that give it a free pass to censor Facebook posts, listen to every Skype conversation, monitor tweets, blogs or access private photographs and documents stored online, or track locations of mobile phone users or survey online activity of every individual,” a statement issued by the group said.
“The Internet is a great means to remove barriers between countries and continents. A person in a remote Indian village can learn about what is happening in Egypt and Syria by reading about it online. It’s a means of spreading and attaining knowledge. That’s what the government is afraid of because it doesn’t want the masses to be empowered through knowledge,” a young protester said.