Author: India Writes Network

Net Neutrality: Reading more than just economics

- by India Writes Network

The issue of net neutrality has taken the social media by storm. Over 100,000 emails have been sent to TRAI through the website savetheinternet.in to plead for net neutrality. Videos are being shared to explain the issue to a wider audience (the latest one by AIB, of the infamous roast fame, has gone viral), endearing them to add their names to petitions pleading against any move to dilute the principle of net neutrality. The pro net neutrals are rooting for ‘saving the last bastion of equality’ which will be lost once the corporates takeover. They would be able to manipulate preferences, making it hostile to start-ups, small businesses and basically anyone who cannot pay. The anti- net neutrals gives the familiar neoliberal price/competition argument – the need to price supply as per demand allows for beneficial allocation in an increasingly shrinking space, and that those who put in the infrastructure should be incentivised (by the profit motive) to invest in making the space better.

As the battle continues, beyond the economics and technicality of the issue lie our worldview, one being framed by atomistic consumerist preferences and the constant compromise equality/ democracy makes in the onslaught of the Neoliberal- systems of economy and society we have nurtured (albeit sub/unconsciously), and affirm as the mainstream.

But first some quick facts.

What is net neutrality?

The principle that all content on the internet should be treated equally- one can access all websites (with equal speed of connection, on all possible devices), once you have internet access.

What is equal access?

Non-discriminatory access and equal distribution of content basically means that service providers should

not create high speed lanes for certain services (such as by, say, collusions between content providers and internet service providers to allow users to access their content much faster- making shopping at say, Ebay, much faster than rival Flipkart when using a certain ISP) and charge excessive tariffs based on demand and paying capacity of the user

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Artistic freedom fine, but don’t abuse national icons: Supreme Court

- by India Writes Network

There is a thin line between artistic freedom and abusive outpourings. Lampoon or mock, by all means, but do not lapse into demeaning language against nationally and historically venerated figures like Mahatma Gandhi. This is the message from India’s Supreme Court, a sobering note amid a raging debate in the country over limits of the poetic license.
While allowing for the freedom to ideate, the country’s top court pointed out: “You cannot use abusive words for historical figures under the garb of artistic freedom. There is a complete freedom for ideas but the freedom of speech and expression is not absolute. The Constitution provides restrictions and it is a regulated freedom.”
In recent judgment, a bench comprising Justices Dipak Misra and Prafulla C. Pant, underlined that it was no offence to criticise, mock, lampoon and make parodies of the country’s iconic figures, but the freedom of expression cannot be stretched to demeaning them (by the use of abusive language). The same is an offence under Section 292 of Indian Penal Code, attracting a maximum jail term of two years.
The court’s directive was in response to a petition filed by a publisher who had published a poem on Mahatma Gandhi in 1984. The poem, ‘Gandhi Mala Bhetla Hota’ (I met Gandhi), written by Vasant Dattatray Gurjar, a Marathi poet, depicts the Mahatma as the narrator who uses obscene language in the poem. The bench agreed that the boundaries of freedom of speech has been expanding, but should not mean using abusive words against Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the nation, under Article 19(1) of the Constitution guaranteeing free speech.

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