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In India, people are being arrested for voicing disagreement with politicians and influential people on social media. You could even be arrested for liking a Fa

In India, people are being arrested for voicing disagreement with politicians and influential people on social media. You could even be arrested for liking a Facebook post criticizing a politician. http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/11/19/indian-woman-arrested-over-facebook-like/ http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/11/19/indian-woman-arrested-ov...

virtuabhi 12y ago
Yes, this is true. We are definitely not near the US standard on the defense of free speech. But the case you mentioned is one of the small number of such cases (I remember one from the state of West Bengal). And in this case, the over eagerness of local authorities was criticized by both the government and public. As of now, I would place India somewhere between UK (with its defamation laws) and US (gold standard of free speech) on the free speech issue. I do hope that the government takes steps to make sure that local authorities do not have power to override the right of free speech. (Disclaimer: Indian citizen)
- alephnil 12y ago
  It does not help that it is just a small number of cases, as even a small number of cases will have have a chilling effect on free speech. The "somewhere between UK and US" comment is theoretical and is about what the written law says. The way it is practised is clearly worse than both. You don't have to watch your back when you criticize a politician in the UK, and certainly not when you "like" someone doing that. Even if it was later criticized later on, it did happen, and I would guess it got no consequences for the people that prosecuted the two women.
- lake99 12y ago
  I don't know how you could compare India to UK. If you seriously believe there are a "small number of such cases", I must conclude you're ignorant. In most developed countries people would be shocked if issues such as this [1] are seriously considered in court cases, instead of getting thrown out immediately for being frivolous. [1] http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/kerala-student-life-in-jail-for-not-standing-during-national-anthem/1/394686.html http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/kerala-student-life-in-ja...
- skrebbel 12y ago
  I think it's absolutely nuts that you're being downvoted into oblivion. The fact that these crackdowns were criticized widely is a good contribution to the debate. It appears that there's people in this thread who downvote anyone who's from India and doesn't think things are as bad as suggested.
  - scrollaway 12y ago
    Or maybe people downvoting him don't think that saying the UK is worse than a country that jails people for liking facebook posts is a sensible addition to this conversation. YMMV.
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
  - RealGeek 12y ago
    He is being downvoted because he is in a denial mode, not because he is from India. I am from India as well, I didn't get downvoted. Many Indians think this way: "Freedom of speech, it's not that bad in India. Modi will change everything." Shocking thing is that a lot of Indians also believe that these people deserve to be jailed for speaking against politicians. Even worse.. they are beaten by a mob and their house is ransacked.
vithlani 12y ago
but but but but....look!!! MARS!!! Dude MARS!!!! We are so technologically advanced that we made it to Mars!!! YAYAAYAYA https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8364841 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8364841

virtuabhi 12y ago

Yes, this is true. We are definitely not near the US standard on the defense of free speech. But the case you mentioned is one of the small number of such cases (I remember one from the state of West Bengal). And in this case, the over eagerness of local authorities was criticized by both the government and public. As of now, I would place India somewhere between UK (with its defamation laws) and US (gold standard of free speech) on the free speech issue. I do hope that the government takes steps to make sure that local authorities do not have power to override the right of free speech. (Disclaimer: Indian citizen)

alephnil 12y ago
It does not help that it is just a small number of cases, as even a small number of cases will have have a chilling effect on free speech. The "somewhere between UK and US" comment is theoretical and is about what the written law says. The way it is practised is clearly worse than both. You don't have to watch your back when you criticize a politician in the UK, and certainly not when you "like" someone doing that. Even if it was later criticized later on, it did happen, and I would guess it got no consequences for the people that prosecuted the two women.
lake99 12y ago
I don't know how you could compare India to UK. If you seriously believe there are a "small number of such cases", I must conclude you're ignorant. In most developed countries people would be shocked if issues such as this [1] are seriously considered in court cases, instead of getting thrown out immediately for being frivolous. [1] http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/kerala-student-life-in-jail-for-not-standing-during-national-anthem/1/394686.html http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/kerala-student-life-in-ja...
skrebbel 12y ago
I think it's absolutely nuts that you're being downvoted into oblivion. The fact that these crackdowns were criticized widely is a good contribution to the debate. It appears that there's people in this thread who downvote anyone who's from India and doesn't think things are as bad as suggested.
- scrollaway 12y ago
  Or maybe people downvoting him don't think that saying the UK is worse than a country that jails people for liking facebook posts is a sensible addition to this conversation. YMMV.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- RealGeek 12y ago
  He is being downvoted because he is in a denial mode, not because he is from India. I am from India as well, I didn't get downvoted. Many Indians think this way: "Freedom of speech, it's not that bad in India. Modi will change everything." Shocking thing is that a lot of Indians also believe that these people deserve to be jailed for speaking against politicians. Even worse.. they are beaten by a mob and their house is ransacked.

vithlani 12y ago

but but but but....look!!! MARS!!! Dude MARS!!!! We are so technologically advanced that we made it to Mars!!! YAYAAYAYA https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8364841 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8364841