Five Ways Indian Internet Users Are Fighting for Free Speech

Vivek Prakash/ReutersPeople work on computers at an office in Bangalore, Karnataka, in this Feb. 29, 2012 file photo.

The two young women who were arrested for their Facebook activity last week have found an unlikely champion for their cause: another young woman, Shreya Singhal, who filed public interest litigation with the Supreme Court to challenge one of the controversial laws used to justify the arrests.

That litigation was heard by the Supreme Court on Friday, which then ordered the central and some state governments to respond within six weeks. Ms. Singhal, who is a recent astrophysics graduate and plans to apply to law school, questioned the constitutionality of Section 66A. The dreary sounding, but much-talked about law criminalizes information sent online that can be considered “offensive.”

Although not many have petitioned the Supreme Court like the 21-year-old Ms. Singhal, thousands of social media users, civil society groups, lawyers and activists have protested Section 66A and the Internet laws in recent weeks. If readers believe the laws are muzzling online free speech, here are some ways experts offer to keep up the pressure to scrap the law:

1. ONLINE PETITIONS:

Change.org, which Nicholas D. Kristof of The New York Times describes as “the go-to site for Web uprisings,” has a petition that requests the minister for information and communication technology to amend Section 66A and relook at the Internet laws. Gautam John, a trained lawyer who now strategizes for nonprofits, started the petition on Tuesday to offer citizens a space to register their protest.

Although Mr. John acknowledged that the petition is unlikely to change the law, he still believes it's an important resource to document people's protest.

“One of the reasons why I support this petition in particular is because it offers very concrete suggestions, rather than just slamming the government,” Nilanjana Roy, a literary critic, journalist and author, said via email. “It points out a major area of concern: the government has a history of passing laws about the Internet in particular without involving stakeholders, or paying attention to the opinions and experiences of those who understand social media networks and online behavior patterns. Given the speed at which the Internet evolves and changes, this is a huge problem,” she said.

And maybe online petitions do work.

Another campaign on Change.org demanded that the charges against the women booked for their Facebook activity be dropped.

“This move by the police is a gross clamp down on an individual's freedom of speech and expression,” said Mukut Ray, 28, an activist from Kolkata who started the online petition, according to a statement. More than 21,000 supporters signed it.

Although it's difficult to gauge the role the petition had to play, charges against the women have reportedly been dropped.

2. LOBBYING LEADERS:

Citizens can lobby their political leaders to take actions on issues they care about, analysts say.

“We don't contact our elected representatives enough,” said Mr. John, who recommends interested people to go to the Web sites of Parliament's upper house, known as the Rajya Sabha, or the lower house, Lok Sabha, to find contact details for their representatives.

“Politicians should know it's not just a small bunch of people who are concerned,” argued Mr. John. “There are a large number and they have an opinion, too.”

One lawyer who's famil iar with the Internet laws controversy, said Kapil Sabil, the minister for communications and information technology, is the right man to lobby. This is the contact page for his ministry.

3. GO TO COURT

People can file public interest litigation like Ms. Singhal did at the Supreme Court. Legal experts say that any citizen can write a letter to the High Court in their state or to the Supreme Court, which can then decide to file public interest litigation on behalf of the citizen.

This retired physics professor had also filed litigation with the Madras High Court earlier this month asking the government to repeal section 66A, which he called “arbitrary and unconstitutional.” The court responded to his request last week, serving notice to state officials, as well as the secretaries of India's home, law and information and broadcasting ministries, asking them to respond to the lawsuit in four weeks.

“I think at this point groups with expertise on th e issue should file petitions in the Supreme Court, to be heard with the law student's petition,” said Karuna Nundy, a lawyer and civil liberties expert, who filed a more comprehensive petition along with Ms. Singhal's on behalf of the People's Union for Civil Liberties, a prolific human rights group.

4. SOCIAL MEDIA ENGAGEMENT

Citizens can continue to engage on Facebook and Twitter about the controversial laws.

Pranesh Prakash, policy director of the Centre for Internet and Society, notes that many traditional journalists are on social media sites and are bound to notice if users are protesting there.

Indeed. Many media outlets drew attention to the outcry on Facebook and Twitter that followed the arrest of the women for their Facebook activity.

5. GO OFFLINE

Offline protests are scheduled by Free Software Movement of India, a coalition of groups that lobby for free software, free knowledge, and a free society. The coalition demands tha t the central government review the Information Technology Act.

“Free Software Movement of India condemns the misuse of 66A and calls for protests across the country from 1st December 2012 to 7th December 2012,” the organization said on its Web site. “As a minimum it should come out with clear rules under the Act clearly limiting the scope of Section 66A and others to be in conformity with the freedom of expression guaranteed under the Article 19 of the Indian Constitution.”

Go to their Web site for a look at what's happening in your city.

If users can think of other ways to make a difference, feel free to note them in the comments section below.