Does India Yahoo?

Julian Sanchez | September 30, 2003

Apparently not. I see via Slashdot that the Indian government has blocked out all of Yahoo! Groups as a means of preventing citizens from accessing the discussion list of a single separatist group. As the Slashdot comment notes, it's one thing when we see this from obvious authoritarian regimes, but somewhat more disturbing to see a putative liberal democracy going this route.

Comments

Vivek|9.30.03 @ 4:25AM|#

Not only is it disturbing to see a democracy do this, but it's disturbing at a technical level - coming from a supposed IT powerhouse such as India. Even a ten year old net user will work around this as a matter of course. Will the government then block MSN groups? Or email? Or other incendiary websites?

|9.30.03 @ 4:40AM|#

Isn't this what just happened last week with MSN chatrooms and NMBLA?

SM|9.30.03 @ 4:48AM|#

I can't find any references to it on the web right now but they tried something similar once before. Several newspapers responded by publishing a 10 step list or some such to work around the blockade and get to the proscribed sites. Nice to know that the government has learned nothing from the experience.

GaryM|9.30.03 @ 6:04AM|#

chthus: Did some government make MSN shut down its chatrooms? If so, I missed that part of the news.

fyodor|9.30.03 @ 6:24AM|#

That's pretty putative! It may be a democracy, but it ain't liberal if it can get away with this! Is there any way to challenge such a decision in India? Ah, leave it to "a section of the Information Ministry" to try to shut down information!

Jough|9.30.03 @ 6:43AM|#

Maybe they were practicing "hate speech". What liberal could resist putting a halt to that...

joe er jough|9.30.03 @ 6:45AM|#

'just playin with the "liberal democracy" term and thinking about how conservative campus liberals seem to be these days when it comes to basic freedoms.

(like that cleared anything up)

fyodor|9.30.03 @ 6:54AM|#

Jough,

I got yer joke! My take is that it was based on shifting from one meaning of "liberal" to another, a classic comedic trick! Incidentally, it amazes me how often people forget that words can have more than one meaning (even Robert Plant knew that!), and "liberal" is sure one that has gotten stretched every which way!!

|9.30.03 @ 9:53AM|#

"Is there any way to challenge such a decision in India?"

We can communicate our displeasure to the many software and customer service depts. in India as we encounter them. Threaten boycott or something. Perhaps a nation with a substantial amount of international enterprise like india is more susceptible to these tactics.

Does the Indian government get tax dollars from us? This is a good excuse to cut them off. Contact your congress person and senators! No more illusions about democracies. Israel is a democracy and their government does plenty of rotten things.
person and senators! "Is there any way to challenge such a decision in India?"

We can communicate our displeasure to the many software and customer service depts. in India as we encounter them. Threaten boycott or something. Perhaps a nation with a substantial amount of international enterprise like india is more susceptible to these tactics.

Does the Indian government get tax dollars from us? This is a good excuse to cut them off. Contact your congress person and senators! No more illusions about democracies. Israel is a democracy and their government does plenty of rotten things.

|9.30.03 @ 10:43AM|#

Gary,

You're probably right, I'm sure it was just a good business decision, probably saving them millions. Then again, who has had them by the balls for the past couple of years on "anti-trust" accusations? Oh yeah, the feds. But of course, if the feds had anything to do with it behind the scenes, it would be all over the news.

joe|10.1.03 @ 10:14AM|#

Yep, that'll work. How can you possibly wage a campaign for regional secession without a Yahoo chat room?