Government orders ISPs to unblock 32 websites, links

By Neha Alawadhi, 

10 Jan, 2015

Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) Director-General Gulshan Rai confirmed to ET that the unblocking orders had been sent to ISPs.

NEW DELHI: The government on Friday ordered internet service providers (ISPs) to unblock 32 websites and website links it had asked them to block in December. Its decision to put curbs on these sites had stirred up massive online protests and debates over the need for standard procedures to deal with such situations. 

Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) Director-General Gulshan Rai confirmed to ET that the unblocking orders had been sent to ISPs. Acting on an order by a Mumbai court, the government on December 17 asked ISPs to block 32 websites, which included popular online tools like GitHub and SourceForge used by thousands of programmers. The court's action was based on a complaint by the Mumbai Anti-Terrorism Squad, which claimed that these sites were being used to spread pro-terror messages.

"If the government has indeed decided to unblock those websites, it is welcome. The step was prompted likely by the backlash it faced from internet users in the country, and could also reflect some serious rethinking within government as it attempts to defend Section 69A before the Supreme Court," said Arun Mohan Sukumar, senior fellow at the Centre for Communication Governance, National Law University.The government had invoked Section 69A of the Information Technology Act to ban these websites. The section allows the government to block websites when it fears that the "sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States or public order" is under threat. While the rules for blocking websites and website links are clearly laid out, there are no clear procedures for lifting the curbs. 

"The fact remains that ad hoc blocking without any sound policy guidelines reflects poorly on the government's commitment to a free and open internet," added Sukumar. 

According to people familiar with the matter, instructions for lifting curbs on websites or links are extremely few. While ISPs have to inform concerned authorities on compliance, there are no audits or checks to ascertain if the orders have been complied with. 

The CERT-In is one of the agencies involved in the process of blocking and unblocking of websites. Other such agencies are the Department of Electronics and Information Technology and Department of Telecommunications. 

Legal and internet experts have time and again questioned the wide blocks the government orders on websites. "Unless an entire website has objectionable content (for example a pornographic site or a site that hosts religiously inflammatory speeches), it's less disruptive to block only the specific offensive content on a particular URL rather than block an entire website, which can inadvertently cause hardship to internet users looking for legitimate content," said Mrityunjay Tiwari, managing director, India, at web content filtering company Minesweeper. 

According to experts, the government could look at framing blocking rules on the lines of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act in the US, which lays down clear guidelines for online service providers and ISPs to block access to alleged infringing material.