Centre for Internet and Society

Father-son duo promote Punjabi online

praskrishna — 2014-02-06T01:52:17Z

A father-son duo has been working to include more information about Punjab and Punjabi on Wikipedia, the online encyclopaedia.

The article by Jatinder Preet was published in the Sunday Guardian on February 1, 2014.

Charan Gill and his son Satdeep Gill have written hundreds of articles in English, Hindi and Punjabi in both Shahmukhi and Gurmukhi scripts. The father-son duo recently represented Punjabi in the first ever Train the Trainer Program in India, held at the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS-A2K) in Bangalore. The four-day event was organised for capacity building amongst Wikimedia volunteers for effective and efficient outreach programs in their respective regions to expand the Wikimedia movement in India, informed Charan Gill.

Satdeep Gill, a graduate student at Punjabi University, Patiala was already a contributor to the Punjabi Wikipedia when he attended a workshop held by veteran Punjabi Wikipedian G.S. Guglani. Satdeep became quite active after the workshop and soon his father too joined in. Charan informs he has contributed around 2700 articles, while Satdeep who is one of the administrators, has written around 600 pages. When he started there were around 3000 articles and there were too many factual and other errors, said Charan. He started editing older articles and adding newer ones along with Satdeep. There were others who joined in and now it has around 8700 articles. "Our target is to reach 10,000 by April," said Charan.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/sunday-guardian-february-1-2014-jatinder-preet-father-son-duo-promote-punjabi-online

Faking it on WhatsApp: How India's favourite messaging app is turning into a rumour mill

praskrishna — 2017-05-19T14:44:05Z

Spreading fast and wild on WhatsApp fake news about riots, ‘miracle’ currency

The article by Samarth Bansal was published in the Hindustan Times on May 19, 2017. Pranesh Prakash was quoted.

It didn’t take long after demonetisation for almost everyone to hear about the ‘special properties’ of the new Rs 2000 note, which was said to include a ‘built-in GPS-enabled nano-chip’. News of this high-tech feature spread rapidly, even though there was no notification about it from the Reserve Bank of India or any other government department. What there was, instead, was a popular WhatsApp message.

WhatsApp messages were involved in another fake-news controversy the very same month, when word of a salt shortage in North India spread widely. The fake news unleashed panic, and in Hyderabad, among other places, salt prices increased by a factor of four. It even extracted a victim, a woman died in Bakarganj Bazaar, Kanpur, when she slipped and fell into a drain in a panicked buying melee.

This isn’t the only time that fake news that circulated on WhatsApp led to violence. In 2013, messages sent on WhatsApp helped to incite riots in Muzaffarnagar. A two-year old video of a lynching in Pakistan was mischievously promoted as an attack on two Hindu boys by Muslims in Kawal village of Muzaffarnagar. The video, in turn, provoked calls for revenge. Though the police blocked the video on the internet, its spread could not be stopped on the app.

Facebook, WhatsApp’s parent company, has faced much flak for not curbing the circulation of fake news. On its part, Facebook has now said it will try to flag questionable news stories with the help of users and external fact checkers to cope with this problem.

But the instant messaging app poses similar challenges in a particularly intractable form. WhatsApp offers a particularly private medium of communication, something many people like about it. A case currently being heard at the Supreme Court of India concerns the protection of this very quality — while WhatsApp would like to allow Facebook to access its user data, a PIL contends that this move would be a violation of privacy.

The same factors of WhatsApp’s design that protect its users also make it difficult or impossible to study many aspects of communication on the platform. Even as anecdotal evidence piles up that WhatsApp is being used to distribute fake news, then, it remains hard to know just what is happening or what can be done in response.

Facebook vs WhatsApp

The differences between WhatsApp and Facebook dictate the ways people share news on each platform. “Facebook is a social platform where people express their concerns, react, and build perceptions based on an individual’s posts,” says Anoop Mishra, a digital marketing and social media consultant. “However, on WhatsApp, which is an end-to-end messaging platform, people share content in a more personal and closed way.”

It is because the primary mode of sharing on instant messaging apps is one-to-one, as opposed to the one-to-many relationship on Facebook, that the former feels more personal. This personal quality of most of the content shared directly or on small groups via WhatsApp carries with it the implicit endorsement of people you know. Given that the app is now a large and growing part of people’s lives on mobile devices, the way it influences news consumption demands more attention. “Lack of content moderation and privacy controls gives WhatsApp an edge over Facebook for sharing any type of multimedia content,” says Mishra.

For instance, to get your friends’ attention on Facebook, you need to tag them. Not every post by every friend shows up on your news feed; what you see is dictated by an algorithm. WhatsApp has a big advantage here since it works like a text message. You know that your message will be received by everyone you send it to.

A black hole for content

There is no non-anecdotal way to track the spread of content on WhatsApp. Facebook, for instance, is compatible with analytics tools capable of determining that a particular news report has been shared 7,000 times, say, or viewed 20,000 times.

Such analysis is not feasible with WhatsApp, which offers no way to mine social media data to understand the patterns, trends, or reach of any given message. Even its original source is completely opaque. What is true of particular texts also applies to the total sum of activity on WhatsApp: it is impossible to determine what kinds of messages the public is sharing most, what sorts of conditions people are sharing these messages in, or where in the world they are spreading.

Surpassing one billion

WhatsApp arrived in India at the beginning of the decade. At that time, chat apps were generally considered to be interchangeable with text messages. Today they’re widely understood to support sharing of all forms of multimedia content — photos, videos, audio files and even text documents.

Simplicity is one of WhatsApp’s signature virtues. All you need to do is download it: the programme automatically scans your phone book and links up with your contacts who are also users. Crucially, you don’t even need a password. According to Guide to Chat Apps, a report by the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University, the requirement of a password is “a significant barrier to entry for many people in emerging markets when it comes to other apps and social media platforms.”

In February 2016, WhatsApp crossed the one billion mark for active users worldwide. India is its largest market, with about 160 million active users.

WhatsApping the news

WhatsApp’s reach and growing role in the consumption of photos and videos has prompted media companies to take it seriously as a distribution channel. A report by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism highlights the increasing adoption of new social networks among young people and the growing importance of recommendations as a gateway to news. “The digital generation expects the news to come to them,” says the report’s author journalist Nic Newman in a press release. “Young people rarely go directly to a mainstream news website anymore.”

But unlike apps like WeChat and Snapchat, which are gaining currency among millennials, WhatsApp hasn’t positioned itself as a media distribution platform. Media organisations have been experimenting nonetheless. For instance, the BBC ran pilots on WhatsApp and WeChat for the Indian elections in 2014. Users subscribed to the BBC news service on WhatsApp by adding a number to their contacts and sending a request message to join. They were then put on a broadcast list that sent them up to three updates a day in Hindi and English. Many media outlets, including ours, now have a WhatsApp sharing icon on their mobile websites.

For all its susceptibility to the dissemination of fake news, WhatsApp presents unique challenges to the mass sharing of content, just as it does for the mass tracking of it. It has no official application program interface (API), the service which allows programmers to build applications that automate the functions of a platform. “An official WhatsApp API release could spawn an entirely new industry of startups, in much the same way that the release of Twitter’s API did,” says the Tow Center report. “Except this time, it could be even bigger, given WhatsApp’s near-billion account user base.” Reaching out to a wider audience on WhatsApp — with either fake or authentic news — needs to be performed manually, via broadcast lists, which allow you to send the same message to many people at once, and groups.

State of control

Fake news might lead only to harmless speculation or minor inconvenience, as it did with rumours about the Rs 2000 note, or it could be dangerous, as was the case during the Muzaffarnagar riots. Pranesh Prakash, a policy director at the Centre for Internet and Society, a research and advocacy group focused on digital technology, believes that social media rumours gain potency after the imposition of censorship, under which people begin to wonder what the government is trying to conceal. “There is no way rumours can be completely quelled,” he says, “but the state can act against rumours through clear communication that calls out particular rumours, and tells people not to believe them.”

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/hindustan-times-samarth-bansal-faking-it-on-whatsapp-how-india-s-favourite-messaging-app-turned-into-a-rumour-mill

Faking a stand

praskrishna — 2015-09-27T12:41:51Z

A 'Like' here, a forward there, new-age India's patriotism is confined to social media

The article by Shweta T. Nanda was published in the Week on September 20, 2015. Pranesh Prakash was quoted.

On the eve of Independence Day, Pune-based homemaker Archana Chaurasia, 36, was engaged in an animated conversation with friends when a WhatsApp message notification broke the rhythm of their chat. The content of the forwarded text pushed her into a deep thought for a few seconds. Brimming with pride, she forwarded it to five others on her contact list before returning to the chitchat.

The message read:
The property left behind by Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam:
He owned 6 pants (2 DRDO uniforms), 4 shirts (2 DRDO uniforms), 3 suits (1 western, 2 Indian), 2500 books, 1 flat (which he has donated), 1 Padmashri, 1 Padmabhushan, 1 Bharat Ratna, 16 doctorates, 1 website, 1 twitter account, 1 email id. He didn't have any TV, AC, car, jewellery, shares, land or bank balance.

He had even donated the last 8 years' pension towards the development of his village. He was a real patriot and true Indian... India will forever be grateful to you, sir… Is there any politician compared to him? Make sure all your friends and dear ones read this before 15th August.

“Such forwards evoke patriotism. While most of us aren’t able to do much for the nation, the least one can do is forward such interesting messages and share your love for the country,” explains Chaurasia.

Taken in by a sense of national pride, netizens are not thinking twice before forwarding messages. What we overlook though is how such innocent forwards are propelling a sense of false patriotism, especially among the youth. Often, the content of such messages is erroneous. For instance, DRDO doesn’t have a uniform!

Similarly, you might have thought that when the Empire State Building in New York was lit up in tricolour for Independence Day, it was a US government initiative. But in reality, some Indian Americans had raised money, booked it in advance and adorned it with saffron, white and green lights. The building can be booked in advance by anyone like a swish hall in a five-star hotel.

The messages could be provocative in the garb of ‘faux patriotism’—a recent video clip showing Indian Army firing at its Pakistani counterpart was, in fact, a footage of a three-year-old artillery exercise. Likewise, forwarded messages claiming Brahmos Missiles have been deployed on the Indo-Pak border and UNESCO has judged Jana Gana Mana as the world’s best national anthem were also incorrect.

“The desire to proclaim the greatness of your own political identity, which can often be linked to a religion, is a large part of what fuels the forwarding phenomenon, apart from the innate desire to share new-found knowledge,” says Pranesh Prakash, policy director at The Centre for Internet and Society, Bengaluru. That is why, forwarded messages that celebrate the achievements of historical figures and reassert that Indians have always been great go viral, he explains. “As you trust the person who is sending it, you don’t think about its accuracy. In fact, you don’t tend to question the authenticity of anything that reinforces a view that you already hold,” he says.

Faiz Ullah, assistant professor of media and cultural studies at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, however, looks at it as the signal of a changing society, one that is witnessing the rise of a show-off culture, symbolism and individualism.

“The idea of patriotism is being trivialised,” he says. “It happens when you let the market decide your action. You are known for what you consume than what you give up. And the focus is more on forwarding patriotic messages or marketers announcing freedom sales than doing something substantial for the nation.”

E-forwards are a powerful tool in mobilising people, says Gaurav Singh, owner of Poltubaaz, an election management firm and political consultancy. The Delhi-based company also offers bulk e-texting services across social media and communication platforms.

While there is no study on the exact market size and open rate of such forwards across platforms, in case of emails, says Singh, out of 100 such messages, at least 30 are opened by users. Data analytics also allows one to zero in on the areas of interest of users and forward them relevant content accordingly.

“Some people create such messages just for fun, some do it to serve a commercial purpose, and some others aim to gain political mileage out of it,” says Singh. “For instance, supporters of political parties or those who swear by a certain kind of ideology create and circulate such messages to evoke a particular kind of mass sentiment.” Agrees Rakshit Tandon, a consultant with Internet and Mobile Association of India: “These networks play a key role in peddling strong ideologies.”

Congress spokesman Randeep Singh Surjewala says many such messages are the work of BJP supporters, who want to alter the country’s cultural landscape to reap long-term political dividends. “Their dirty tricks department is using vitriolic measures and false propaganda to influence people,” he says.

But Vinod Bansal, a spokesman of Vishva Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal, says these organisations don't believe in false propaganda but in doing national service. “Anyway, if such forwarded messages are factually correct and evoke patriotism, there is nothing wrong with them,” he says. For instance, if a video of terrorist Yakub Memon’s hanging is being popularised, you can’t call it Hinduisation; instead it is nationalism, he adds.

Another entrepreneur who owns a political campaign management firm that provided consultancy services to a national party in the 2014 general elections, however, reveals that party supporters, particularly of the youth wing, work round-the-clock to circulate e-forwards targeting a particular vote bank, aiming at both long-term and immediate political benefits. “We cater to such requests, and make sure that the content is not in-your-face but subtle yet effective.”

But is there a way to curb such erroneous e-forwards? Although it is possible to zero in on the point of origin of such messages on social media, it also means invading users’ privacy, says Rakesh Sharma, Supreme Court lawyer and founder of social networking platform Sabakuch.com. “Until someone objects to the content of the forwarded message [finding it defaming or explicit], we can’t do anything about it.”

Tandon, who is also an adviser to Uttar Pradesh Police’s cyber complaint redressal cell, says that unless cyber users learn “netiquettes” and take to “internet hygiene”, this menace will not stop. “Users have a responsibility, too,” he says. “Unless you know the authenticity of forwarded messages, don’t circulate them. Also, educate others.”

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/the-week-september-20-2015-shweta-t-nanda-faking-a-stand

Fake News, Rumors & Online Content Regulation

praskrishna — 2017-02-28T02:46:13Z

Medianama and Mint organized #NAMApolicy open house on 'Fake News, Rumors & Online Content Regulation' on February 22, 2017 at the India Habitat Centre. Japreet Grewal and Amber Sinha attended the event.

The discussions broadly covered the impact of Fake News on democratic processes, Legal status of online content regulation in India & administrative challenges with Fake News, Responsibility and accountability of online platforms, while addressing challenges of identification of sources of Fake News, Potential legal and non-legal ways of addressing Fake News, etc.

Agenda

06:30 to 07:00 pm - Registration
07:00 to 07:10 pm - Introductory note
07:10 to 09:00 pm - Round-table discussion moderated by Nikhil Pahwa
09:00 pm onwards - Networking dinner

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/fake-news-rumors-online-content-regulation

Fake News Cascade

praskrishna — 2018-12-11T13:34:45Z

Fake News Cascade

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/FakeNewsCascade.jpg

Fake News

praskrishna — 2018-12-11T13:37:51Z

Fake News

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/FakeNews.jpg

Fake Narendra Modi apps aplenty, but it’s up to users to protect themselves

praskrishna — 2016-12-10T04:24:24Z

The app, hosted on Google Play store, automatically gets excessive permission including full network access and ability to take pictures and videos once downloaded.

The article was published by Indian Express on December 2, 2016. Pranesh Prakash was quoted. Also see Nandini Yadav's blog post in BGR on December 3, 2016.

The app, hosted on Google Play store, automatically gets excessive permission including full network access and ability to take pictures and videos once downloaded.

A “Narendra Modi” app, purportedly offered by the Government of India, caught the attention of Internet expert Pranesh Prakash on Thursday as the app developer was found to be using a Bangladesh-based web host and e-mail address. Suggesting that this could be the work of a con-artist, Prakash underlined that granting access to fake apps could lead to security breach. The app, hosted on Google Play store, automatically gets excessive permission including full network access and ability to take pictures and videos once downloaded. The original NaMo, however, only gets access to read, modify and delete the user’s media files. The “fake” app was downloaded more than 1 lakh times and has an average rating of 4.4 from over 2,000 reviews. A simple search on the play store throws up dozens of Narendra Modi apps, some even calling themselves fake apps. The original app was published by Narendramodi.in and Government Of India. But there are scores of other apps trying to imitate the original.

Pranesh, who is Policy Director at The Centre for Internet and Society, also questioned how users can differentiate between fake and genuine apps when even the official app was registered using a gmail address. While the Government of India Narendra Modi app has been published using info@narendramodi.press, the one by Narendramodi.in has been published using a simple Gmail app. He also highlighted how the play store was flooded with fake banking apps, with one such “SBI app” gaining full access to the user’s files. Incidentally, the fake Modi Ki Note app which has been in the limelight since the demonetisation on high value notes and issue of new ones itself has many duplicates.

In the last two days, the Congress and its vice-president Rahul Gandhi fell victim to hacking as their verified Twitter accounts were compromised. Profane content was shared from both accounts, targeting the Gandhi and his family. This lead to the Congress questioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s digital India push as security remains a huge concern.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/indian-express-december-2-2016-fake-narendra-modi-apps-aplenty-but-it-is-up-to-users-to-protect-themselves

Fair process frameworks for cross-border online spaces

praskrishna — 2013-10-21T09:02:02Z

This workshop is being organised by the Internet & Jurisdiction Project, Civil Society of France, Western Europe and Others Group and Internet & Jurisdiction Project, Civil Society of Germany, Western Europe and Others Group. Sunil Abraham is one of the panelists for this workshop.

The Internet Governance Forum 2013 is being held at Bali from October 22 to 25. The overarching theme for the 2013 IGF meeting is: "Building Bridges"- Enhancing Multistakeholder Cooperation for Growth and Sustainable Development".

Read the original published on IGF website. Also read it on Internet & Jurisdiction website.

Theme: Legal Frameworks and Cyber-crime (Spam, Cyber-security, etc.)

This workshop is organized by the Internet & Jurisdiction Project, a global multi-stakeholder dialogue process launched in January 2012, which engages key actors from states, international organizations, companies, civil society, academia and the technical community from all around the world to address the tension between the cross-border Internet and national jurisdictions.

Over 2,5 billion Internet users interact in shared cross-border online spaces where they can post content potentially accessible worldwide. On the one hand platforms’ Terms of Service try to set transnational rules on acceptable postings, but on the other hand content that is legal in one jurisdiction can be illegal or sensitive in other territories. No clear frameworks exist yet to handle the tensions between these competing normative orders or values and enable peaceful cohabitation in cross-border cyberspaces. This challenge constitutes a rare issue of common concern for all stakeholder groups.

Building upon the intersessional work conducted by the Internet & Jurisdiction Project since the 2012 IGF, the roundtable will address the following topics:

Can commonly agreed interoperability procedures ensure fair process in interactions between platforms, public authorities, technical operators and users regarding seizures, content takedowns and access to user data? regarding seizures, content takedowns and LEA access to user data? - See more at: http://www.internetjurisdiction.net/igf2013-workshop/#sthash.q6PQ3uMn.dpuf

How could appropriate multi-stakeholder frameworks be developed?

Note: This roundtable is listed above under the “legal frameworks and cybercrime” track. However it equally touches upon other thematic areas: Human Rights/ Freedom of Expression on the Internet (addressing takedown procedures); Internet Governance Principles (eg. fair process and accountability) and Principles of Multi-Stakeholder Cooperation (the development of mutual frameworks).

Has the proponent organised a workshop with a similar subject during past IGF meetings?

Yes

Indication of how the workshop will build on but go beyond the outcomes previously reached

At the IGF 2012, after a year of interaction with different stakeholders, the Internet & Jurisdiction Project organized two workshops titled: “What is the Geography of Cyberspace?” and “What frameworks for cross-border online communities and services?” These sessions explored the roots of the tension between the Internet and the patchwork of national jurisdictions and examined how to address this common concern. Both these two workshops and the ongoing dialogue facilitated by the I&JProject in 2013 (including several preparatory meetings around the world) confirmed the need to explore how to develop appropriate frameworks to handle the tension in a multi-stakeholder setting. Therefore, the I&J Project will gather involved stakeholders at the 2013 workshop “Fair process frameworks for cross-border online spaces” to discuss the way forward: How could appropriate frameworks be developed and what commonly agreed interoperability procedures could ensure fair process?

Background Paper: No background paper provided

Session Type: Roundtable

Mr. Bertrand De La Chapelle, Internet & Jurisdiction Project, Civil Society, France, Western Europe and Others Group - WEOG

Mr. Paul Fehlinger, Internet & Jurisdiction Project, Civil Society, Germany, Western Europe and Others Group - WEOG

Have the Proponent or any of the co-organisers organised an IGF workshop before?

Yes

The link(s) to the workshop report(s):

Panelists

Please click on biography to view the biography of the panelist:

Fiona Alexander, Department of Commerce, NTIA, Female, Government, United States, Western Europe and Others Group – WEOG
Biography
Anne Carblanc, OECD, Female, Intergovernmental Organizations, France, Western Europe and Others Group – WEOG
Biography
Elvana Thaci, Council of Europe, Female, Intergovernmental Organizations, France, Western Europe and Others Group – WEOG
Biography
Sunil Abraham, Centre for Internet & Society, Male, Civil Society, India, Asia-Pacific Group
Biography
Anriette Esterhuysen, Association for Progressive Communications, Female, Civil Society, South Africa, African Group
Biography
Carlos Affonso Pereira Da Souza, Fundacao Getulio Vargas, Male, Technical Community, BRAZIL, Latin American and Caribbean Group – GRULAC
Biography
Ross Lajeunesse, Google, Male, Private Sector, United States, Western Europe and Others Group – WEOG Biography
Ebele Okobi, Yahoo, Female, Private Sector, United States, Western Europe and Others Group – WEOG
Biography
Linda Corugedo Steneberg, European Commission, Belgium, Western Europe and Others Group – WEOG
Biography

Agenda

Can commonly agreed interoperability procedures ensure fair process in interactions between platforms, public authorities, technical operators and users regarding seizures, content takedowns and access to user data?
How could appropriate multi-stakeholder frameworks be developed?

Inclusiveness of the Session

The format of the workshop is going to be an open roundtable discussion between a diverse group of stakeholders on the basis of a structured agenda, without formal presentations. Taking stock of the preparatory process with meetings around the world, the participants will be able to discuss the outcomes of the multi-stakeholder dialogue process, explore the components of possible frameworks and how to move forward. The objective is to produce a structured but fluid and dynamic discussion that includes the audience in the debate.

Suitability for Remote Participation

In addition to the remote participation tools provided by the IGF, the session will be covered live on Twitter with a dedicated hashtag and questions can also be submitted through tweets to open the discussion and engage new stakeholders. Moreover, participants of the Internet & Jurisdiction dialogue process around the world will be encouraged to participate remotely in the discussion.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/igf-2013-workshop-42-fair-process-frameworks-for-cross-border-online-spaces

Faculty Seminar: Talk on Normativising Competitive Markets Contextually; Transmission Art Installation — Reordered Spaces

praskrishna — 2013-03-27T12:29:52Z

This event was organized by Azim Premji University on December 26, 2012. Sharath Chandra Ram installed and presented the Re-ordered Spaces. Abhayraj Naik gave a talk.

About the Installation

In the light of recent legal debates concerning street food vending, the video installations question habits of consumption and politics of public spaces complemented by a radio transmission of the audioscape, representing tactical ownership of available spectrum resource within private spaces.

Original installation link can be read here.
Click to read the full details of the event published on the website of Azim Premji University on March 26, 2013

About the Talk

Using urban street food vending as an example, this paper explores the possibilities of a contextualised normative outlook towards competitive markets, competition law, and economic policy in India. I argue that such an outlook would need to creatively engage with the phenomenon of substantial employment informality in India while also judiciously avoiding the allure of dogmatic half-truths based on empirically contestable assumptions about efficiency, illegality and welfare. In India the informal food sector caters to a vast population of desperately poor (and hungry) consumers who cannot afford a qualitatively substitutable product that is retailed through the formal production process. Private enterprise at generating affordable access to food in public spaces remains legally ambiguous, and the narratives of street food law, and street vending more generally, indicate confusion over how to understand the informal sector’s role in competitive urban retail trade. This paper suggests that a distinctively Indian perspective of constitutional economics is required to help us realign our (presently misguided) economic development models to appropriately recognize the empirical realities of the entrepreneurs in our midst, the pre-commitments of our unique constitutional order and competition policy, and the real demands of our customers as citizens.

Notes on the Speakers:

Abhayraj Naik works on issues in legal theory, philosophy, criminal justice, urban governance, ecology, and technology. He holds law degrees from the National Law School of India University (Bangalore) and the Yale Law School (New Haven).

Sharath Chandra Ram has research and pedagogical interests in citizen science, multimodal interaction, accessibility and digital humanities. He graduated from the University of Edinburgh specializing in Artificial Intelligence and interactive virtual environments and is Faculty at Srishti School of Art Design & Technology. As a researcher at the Centre for Internet & Society, he coordinates activities of the Metaculture Media Lab , an open citizen lab, now part of Columbia University's 'Dorkbot' collective.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/azimpremji-university-december-26-2012-talk-on-normativising-competitive-markets-contextually

Factsheet

praskrishna — 2013-09-23T07:01:46Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/indian-language-factsheet.pdf

Fact File

praskrishna — 2014-01-31T07:09:58Z

Fact File

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/FactFile.png

Facing up to Moral Hazard

praskrishna — 2011-10-26T12:50:08Z

Systems upholding the law and standards help navigate the grey areas of moral hazard and adverse selection writes Shyam Ponappa in this article published in the Business Standard on October 6, 2011.

Amid the general sense of an ailing socio-economic environment in the country, consider these situations:

Coal supplies for power generation are eight per cent short of generation capacity. Worse, nearly 42,000 Mw of additional generation capacity over the next five years is jeopardised because anticipated supplies are short by two-thirds of the requirement (100 million tonnes against demand for 313 million tonnes).

The rural employment guarantee scheme, well intentioned and with some reported successes (as in Melghat in Vidarbha), shows few tangible results while distorting farm labour practices and pricing. The reasons are many: inadequate design and supervision (mud roads that are washed away every year), no integration with agricultural programmes, palliatives that deny real infrastructure and support, like extension schemes that build on successes leveraging ICT, no skill development for alternative (self) employment, and so on.
The telecommunications sector is buffeted by scandal, the downward spiral of public sector operators BSNL and MTNL, and pressures of intense competition with constrained resources and regulations.

Leaving aside venality, a common thread is of laws and rules not upheld, slack standards, contracts not honoured, an absence of hard decisions and the requisite effort, and a degradation of mindsets. These are the grey areas of “moral hazard” on the one hand – where protection from the consequences of irresponsible actions induces irresponsibility – and of adverse or negative selection on the other, avoiding the best feasible choices for easier, inferior alternatives. They are widespread, and need assiduous effort to identify and set right with systems, even as criminality is dealt with by the legal system. Good people do not game situations for self-gain, but everyone faces the hazard in making choices. The importance of devising and upholding credible systems, standard operating procedures and laws that are seen to work through incentives and penalties is that these perceptions uphold the social contract and protect one from moral hazard.

Whatever the policies, they must have integrity and coherence; the hazard arises from not ensuring these conditions. The specific hazard is the change in behaviour for the worse. Absent this skein of expectations and constraints, there is no coherence to every individual’s uncoordinated wish list or gripes. This is the problem with well-intentioned social vigilantism, because it destroys the very fabric of order.

Down the Slippery Slope

The hazards in grey areas are manifested in several ways.

Abdication of responsibility by the government: The most prominent moral hazard may be the central government’s abdication of responsibility epitomised by the 2G scandal. A redeeming feature is that some alleged perpetrators are being prosecuted eventually — although how matters end will establish whether it is truly a redemption or a perpetuation of banditry with the state’s complicity (by abstaining from intervention). Similar scandals in mining and civil aviation are unravelling or are on the brink. It is these egregious developments added to the hassles in routine dealings with the government that have led to such public alienation.

There are also many errors of government omission or inaction, such as initiatives not taken in infrastructure, like stalled efforts at power supply reforms, including the state governments’ reluctance to address sustainable electricity tariffs, or not reducing the extent of administered pricing and taxes in petroleum products (or state governments imposing non-uniform sales tax), the deterioration in the railways, and so on.
Taking to the streets: Citizens who feel alienated can take to the streets when they are desperate or outraged. This seems to be the sentiment not only in the Arab spring, but also in varying degrees in established democracies in Europe, Israel and India. There are incipient signs even in America, with the amorphous “Occupy Wall Street” movement spreading from New York to other cities, protesting against various inequities.

When both government and citizens are irresponsible, chaos follows. In India, absence of governance is an extenuating circumstance for activism. But equally, there are indefensible lapses by citizens: the unwillingness to be disciplined, to outgrow the anti-colonial paradigm of railing against the government-as-imperial-ruler, of fasting and civil disobedience as acceptable forms of protest, of not subscribing to order, whether in traffic, respecting queues, or managing garbage and sanitation. Yet, reports of queuing by Delhi Metro users suggest that we can perform if we must — as do all the IT professionals delivering services to international markets. But for the most part, we rail against other people’s transgressions, while being unwilling to observe discipline ourselves.
Corporate chicanery: Apart from criminality such as in the mining and 2G scams, there is the grey area of bending the rules. Examples include the financial and operational performance of many real estate developers, or the poor automotive service quality that is an adjunct to the undeniably more refined automobiles themselves.
Media overreach: The advent of 24x7 news channels is a boon for choice and sourcing. Tragically, many have morphed into whipping up a frenzy rather than delivering solid news and balanced views, given the battle for viewership with a lowest-common-denominator bias for sensationalism.
Stalled government decisions: Government decisions in a number of areas were already stalled owing to problems in the approach to land acquisition, environmental effects, and in sectors such as nuclear energy. A combination of circumstances comprising all these and hyper-aggressive audits, a popular outcry stoked by frenzied media treatment relating to scams in land acquisition, 2G spectrum, and mines, has in effect created a gridlock, in which no forward-looking decisions seem possible, because of the risk of retribution for perceived missteps or errors of judgment, with hindsight.

The grey areas occupy the space between what we want – superior standards – and what we have, which is a slackness of systems because of widespread shoddiness in the practice of leadership and citizenship, with neither inspiring confidence in the other. The way out is conceptually simple, though difficult to execute: take responsibility, devise coherent systems and practices in all areas, with incentives and penalties applied impartially, and live by them.

Read the original article in the Business Standard here

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/telecom/facing-up-to-moral-hazard

Facebookresistance

praskrishna — 2011-03-10T04:28:43Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/Facebookresistance.jpg

Facebook: Limiting access to social media can restrict freedom of speech

praskrishna — 2013-08-08T04:07:38Z

In its counter-affidavit to the PIL in the Delhi high court, Facebook has argued that limiting access to social media can limit an individual's freedom of speech and expression.

Kim Arora's article was published in the Times of India on August 1, 2013. Sunil Abraham is quoted.

The PIL, among other things, deals with the issue of minors accessing Facebook services, arguing that under the Indian Contract Act 1872, minors can't enter into a contract. The PIL will be heard next on Friday.

Last year, the UN Human Rights Council had passed a resolution declaring access to Internet as a human right. Facebook has argued making a similar point for access to social media. "The Internet is increasingly becoming a platform for citizens including minors to interact and voice their opinions and, therefore, a meaningful interpretation of the right to freedom of speech and expression would include the freedom to access social media," the counter-affidavit says.

"It can be argued that in a technologically mediated society, social media and communication infrastructure is essential to exercise freedom of expression," says Sunil Abraham, director, Bangalore-based Center for Internet and Society.

Cyber lawyer Pavan Duggal sees it as "hyperbole". "The issue still remains that a minor doesn't have the capacity to act under the Contract Act," he says. Lawyers say that if a contract is entered into for free service in exchange of personal information, it is a "consideration" (like cash or kind) under the Indian Contract Act 1872. The Act says, "All agreements are contracts if they are made by the free consent of parties competent to contract, for a lawful consideration and with a lawful object, and are not hereby expressly declared to be void." It then lists minors as incompetent to contract, and says, "The agreement, if any party is minor, is void ab initio." However, Abraham points out that "It is not an offence to enter a void contract."

To weed out fake profiles and children's profiles, the PIL, filed by former RSS ideologue K N Govindacharya, argues that "obligation is cast upon Facebook and other social networking sites to verify the authenticity of each and every subscribers (sic) which is mandatory for Mobile companies in telecommunication sector.

Mumbai-based professor of law Saurav Datta feels this sort of authentication could have serious privacy implications. "There is no way they can verify users without impinging on their privacy. The goal of the PIL is wrong. We need to protect children, not keep people out," says Datta.

Abraham says that a possible way to deal with this can be on the lines of Canadian privacy law where a privacy commissioner can raise such concerns with the service provider directly.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/the-times-of-india-aug-1-2013-kim-arora-facebook-limiting-access-to-social-media-can-restrict-freedom-of-speech

Facebook’s Free Internet Access Program in Developing Countries Provokes Backlash

praskrishna — 2015-09-29T16:35:02Z

In India and Indonesia, users criticize Internet.org initiative, saying it violates the principles of net neutrality.

The article by Newley Purnell and Resty Woro Uniar was published in the Wall Street Journal on September 24, 2015. Sunil Abraham gave inputs.

When Muhammad Maiyagy Gery heard about a new mobile app from Facebook Inc. that provides free Internet access in his native Indonesia, he was excited.

But after testing it, the 24-year-old student from a mining town on the eastern edge of Borneo soon deleted the app, called Internet.org, frustrated that he was unable to access Google. com and some local Indonesian sites.

Mr. Gery said Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg is an “inspiration in the tech world,” but added that the company’s free Internet effort is “inadequate.”

Mr. Gery’s reaction illustrates the unexpected criticism Facebook has encountered to its bold initiative to bring free Internet access to the world’s four billion people who don’t have it, and to increase connectivity among those with limited access. He is one of many users who say a Facebook-led partnership is providing truncated access to websites, thwarting the principles of what is known in the U.S. as net neutrality—the view that Internet providers shouldn’t be able to dictate consumer access to websites.

Since Mr. Zuckerberg’s announcement of the $1 billion project two years ago, Facebook has launched Internet.org in 19 countries across Asia, Latin America and Africa by teaming up with mobile carriers and technology giants including Samsung Electronics Co. , chip maker Qualcomm Inc. and telecom-equipment firm Ericsson AB. Facebook says that through the initiative, in which it is also experimenting with drones and satellites to deliver Web access, some nine million people have come online.

Users with data-enabled feature phones can access a special website through a mobile browser, while those with smartphones can download the app from Google’s Play Store. Though arrangements vary by country, the Internet.org app typically provides a simplified, low-data version of Facebook, its Messenger service and selected local websites offering services like jobs, health information and sports updates. Facebook says it works with mobile operators, which provide free data, and governments to pick sites for the platform.

While some applaud the Internet initiative, the U.S. company is dealing with a backlash from users in some of its fastest-growing markets like Indonesia and India, which are key to its future expansion.

In response to the criticism, Mr. Zuckerberg earlier this year wrote an opinion article that appeared in two Indian newspapers defending the project. He argued that the initiative is compatible with the principles of net neutrality, and that if people “can’t afford to pay for connectivity, it is always better to have some access and voice than none at all.”

But criticism about the initiative has placed Facebook in an awkward position. The social network along with other tech companies like Amazon.com Inc. and Twitter Inc. are members of the U.S. industry group Internet Association, which advocates for net neutrality, among other issues. In markets like Indonesia and India, critics say Facebook is more interested in controlling which websites users can tap into than in ensuring free Internet access. “It’s not Internet.org. It’s walled garden.org,” said Sunil Abraham, head of the Bangalore, India-based Center for Internet and Society.

Facebook wants to be seen as a pioneer “of the open and free Internet and not the opposite,” said Neha Dharia, an analyst at telecommunications research firm Ovum.

On Thursday, Facebook said it was changing the name of the Internet.org app and mobile website to Free Basics by Facebook in order to better distinguish it from the company’s wider Internet.org initiative. Asked whether the change was related to criticism of the project, a Facebook spokeswoman said that the name will “more intuitively describe the product to consumers.”

Chris Daniels, Facebook’s vice president in charge of the project, said in a recent interview that he has been surprised by the criticism of the project, noting that many people have gained access to the Web.

This spring in India, travel website Cleartrip, news channel NDTV and a mobile news app pulled their content from the platform amid concerns over net neutrality.

Cleartrip referred inquiries about its reasons for leaving the initiative to an April statement it posted on its website. In that statement, the company said the backlash in India “gave us pause to rethink our approach to Internet.org and the idea of large corporations getting involved with picking and choosing who gets access to what and how fast.”

Vishal Anand, chief product officer at mobile news app Dailyhunt, said that “While we appreciate the effort to give people Internet access, we fully support the principles of net neutrality.” He declined to elaborate on the company’s specific objections to Internet.org.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/wsj-september-24-2015-newley-purnell-resty-woro-uniar-facebook-free-internet-access-program-in-developing-countries-provokes-backlash