BlogSpot Banned in India

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

First the news: "The central government, reeling under fierce criticism of its response to the Mumbai blasts, has struck a blow at the online community by issuing orders to block blogs across the country. " - Economic Times

This piece of news has shook the bloggers across the country. Apparently, the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) has directed all ISPs to block certain websites including some at blogspot.com and geocities.com. Though you can still access your blogger dashboard and post new posts but you won't be able to read any blogs hosted on blogspot.com.

Some ISP officials confirm that they have received a confidential list of sites to be banned. But, there is still no conforming report that all blogs are ordered to be banned in India.

The news of blogspot being blocked was manifestly released by Mridula, when her ISP spectranet showed a "Site BLOCKED !!!" notice on opening blogspot blogs yesterday. Though I was able to access blogspot till last night on my Airtel connection but started facing problems from today morning.

This situation is similar to the one that exists in Pakistan and China. In Pakistan blogspot was banned after the Danish cartoon incident, while in China only limited access to internet is available. Does, the Government of India wants to play the same game in India. What about Freedom to Expression?

So, what can be done? You can file a RTI application under the Right to Information act 2005. For details on how to file an RTI, click here.

If you want to access your blog despite of the ban, visit www.pkblogs.com, a site by Pakistani bloggers to help them view their blogs despit the ban. For example, you can access my blog by typing www.pkblog.com/gsmodi.


P.S.: View the comments to dis post for any updates regarding this issue.