Catergory

MeitY

WhatTheBlock

Supreme Court issues notice in Sushant Singh's transfer petition challenging website blocking

Sushant Singh has sought transfer of his writ petition from the Bombay High Court to the Supreme Court, challenging Rules 8 and 16 of the IT Blocking Rules, 2009. On 02.05.2025, the Supreme Court issued notice and tagged it with SFLC’s pending petition raising similar issues.
02 May, 2025
6 min read
Shravani Nag LankaShravani Nag Lanka & Injila Muslim ZaidiInjila Muslim Zaidi
AI

IFF’s Submissions on the MeitY Report on AI Governance Guidelines

MeitY released its report ‘AI Governance Guidelines Development’ on January 6, 2025 and opened it up for public feedback to guide the development of a trustworthy and accountable AI ecosystem in India. This post summarises IFF’s response.
03 March, 2025
4 min read
Shravani Nag LankaShravani Nag Lanka & Naman KumarNaman Kumar
MeitY

Dearest Gentle Leaders… IFF wrote to the newly appointed Union Ministers on key digital rights issues

Following a reshuffle in certain Union Cabinet roles, we wrote to the newly appointed Ministers of MeitY, MIB, DoT and others, welcoming them to their new role and highlighting key digital rights areas that need consideration.
25 June, 2024
16 min read
Tejasi PanjiarTejasi Panjiar & Disha VermaDisha Verma
MeitY

A DM from the PM (and the storm it stirred)

Last week, millions of WhatsApp users received a message from the Ministry of Electronics & IT, undersigned by the Prime Minister, asking for feedback on schemes introduced by the incumbent government. We unravel what this means for your privacy and the electoral process.
22 March, 2024
7 min read
Tejasi PanjiarTejasi Panjiar & Disha VermaDisha Verma
E2EE

Statement: Reportedly, IT Ministry looks to block Proton Mail on request of Tamil Nadu

Reportedly, the E2EE email service Proton Mail has received communication from MeitY regarding a potential block under S.69-A IT Act, at the request of the TN police over a hoax bomb threat sent to private schools in Chennai. 
15 February, 2024
1 min read
Internet Freedom FoundationInternet Freedom Foundation
elections

NIC withdraws polling station surveillance tender: A small win for voter rights #VoterPrivacyWatch

Following IFF's letter to the ECI raising concerns over NIC's tender for deploying drones and facial recognition technologies at polling stations in the 2024 elections, ECI directed NIC to withdraw the tender, noting risks to voter privacy.
22 January, 2024
3 min read
Disha VermaDisha Verma
MeitY

Nice to MeitYou! IFF writes to newly appointed MeitY Secretary

We wrote to the new MeitY secretary, welcoming him to the role and highlighting key areas that should be addressed in his tenure.
13 October, 2023
7 min read
Disha VermaDisha Verma & Prateek WaghrePrateek Waghre
GAC

MeitY's response to our RTI requests on GAC: delayed, denied, deficient.

MeitY responded to our 1st appeal on the RTI application pertaining to the functional and operational processes of the Grievance Appellate Committees (GAC). This post summarises the Ministry’s response (or the lack thereof) to our 1st appeal, and elaborates on our concerns denied information.
19 May, 2023
7 min read
Tejasi PanjiarTejasi Panjiar & Prateek WaghrePrateek Waghre
WhatTheBlock

Mayday Alert: 14 mobile apps banned, no blocking order released. #WhatTheBlock

In May 2023, 14 mobile apps that provided end-to-end encrypted and peer-to-peer messaging services were reportedly banned. Reasoned blocking orders and a pre-decisional hearing were reportedly not provided to these apps. IFF filed a series of RTI applications to seek more information.
10 May, 2023
7 min read
Tejasi PanjiarTejasi Panjiar, Gayatri MalhotraGayatri Malhotra, Prateek WaghrePrateek Waghre & Radhika RoyRadhika Roy
internet shutdowns

Digital censorship in Punjab: internet shutdowns and account suspensions

Internet services in Punjab were shut down from March 18 till March 21 (in some districts till March 24). Reportedly, around 120 twitter accounts were suspended/ withheld. We wrote to the Punjab government and MeitY raising concerns about the internet shutdown and withheld accounts, respectively.
31 March, 2023
4 min read
Tejasi PanjiarTejasi Panjiar & Prateek WaghrePrateek Waghre

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