Below is a copy of a Right To Information request that MediaNama has filed today, following the order to block 245 websites, and the orders to ban SMS'. While we are not necessarily in favor of the blocking of content on the web, and particularly worried about the way in which the Indian government blocks websites, the least we expect from a democratic government which should uphold free speech is for it to be transparent and offer recourse: there should be a public repository of web pages blocked, citizens need to be told why a particular page has been blocked. Someone whose site has been blocked needs to have the ability to get the block removed, preferably a process as simple as that of blocking. It is essential to include these in the (proposed) revised IT Rules 2012. Please feel free to use the RTI below as a reference for drafting your own, in case you have additional questions to ask of the government. In case you need any additional help in filing an RTI, please feel free to contact me at nikhil@medianama.com *** To, The Public Information Officer, Office of PIO (RTI) Room No 1016, Electronics Niketan Department of Information Technology (DIT) Ministry of Communications and Information Technology 6, CGO Complex, New Delhi Subject: Information on websites which have blocked Dear Sir, We request information on the following under the Right to Information Act, 2005: 1. List of websites/webpages with URLs for each, for which orders have been issued…
