The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) functions as the primary body certifying films for public exhibition in India. It is guided by the Cinematograph Act, 1952, and various rules and guidelines in determining the nature of certification to be granted to a film. However, over the past few m...

by sflc_admin | April 7, 2017 RightsCon 2017 is over, and we have lots to say about it. The Conference took place over a three day period, i.e. 29-31 March 2017 in Brussels, Belgium. We would like to thank Access Now for organizing and managing a smoothly conducted conference with over a thousand pe...

In September last year, the Delhi High Court had upheld WhatsApp’s updated privacy policy, which allows it to share users’ personal information with its parent company, Facebook. Aggrieved by the Court’s decision, the petitioners approached the Supreme Court earlier this year. On 6th February, the S...

by sflc_admin | March 31, 2017 The Freedom Online Coalition (FOC) has issued a joint statement expressing deep concern over the growing trend of intentional state-sponsored disruptions of access to or dissemination of information online. These disruptions challenge the FOC’s goal of protecting and e...

by sflc_admin | March 31, 2017 On March 22, 2017, Baijayant ‘Jay’ Panda, Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha), raised the issue of Internet shutdowns in Parliament. Noting how Internet shutdowns are instituted by states under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 despite there being detailed ...

Earlier this week, an agency entrusted with enrolling individuals under the Aadhaar scheme inadvertently published Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s personal information online. When it was pointed out this amounted to a gross violation of privacy, the government released a statement confirming that such publi...

by sflc_admin | March 29, 2017 Concerned by the recurring Internet shutdowns imposed by states across India, we, along with a group of citizens and organizations, sent letters to the Chief Ministers of all states that have witnessed shutdowns in the past, requesting that immediate action be taken to...

by sflc_admin | March 28, 2017 In Aadhaar news, in the first few months of 2017, the Central Government has issued a spur of notifications making Aadhaar mandatory for various schemes that provide essentials and basic amenities. These notifications are issued under Section 7 of the Aadhaar (Targeted...

Cyber crime has been rising across India. This post reviews advancements in policing technologically advanced crimes and considers potential next steps. With rising instances of cybercrime being noted across the country, the need for vigilance in the cyber sphere has been highlighted by a number of ...

The Battle for Notes and Chords “Cinema is more. than long strips of celluloid, more than miracles in photography, more than song, dance and dialogue and indeed, more than dramatic story, exciting plot, gripping situations and marvelous acting. But it is that ensemble which is the finished product o...

by sflc_admin | March 22, 2017 SFLC.in participated in the Internet Freedom Festival (IFF) which was held between 6th and 10th of March, 2017 in the beautiful city of Valencia in Spain. IFF is a community organized unconference that brings together digital rights defenders – journalists, activists, ...

by sflc_admin | March 10, 2017 Aadhaar, the unique biometric identification project of UIDAI has been at the center of many debates since its inception. Among other things, concerns have been raised regarding privacy, and security of the sensitive biometric data of residents of the country. As a par...

by sflc_admin | March 3, 2017 Internews organized a panel discussion on “ Internet Shutdowns and the Silencing of Dissent ” held at Google’s office in Washington D.C on March 2, 2017. Our legal director, Mishi Choudhary , was among the panelists along with Arsene Tungali, Co-Founder & Executive...

Two days before the ongoing MAG meeting, the 2017 MAG renewal was announced. The CSCG protested the lack of civil society representatives among the new MAG members. This brought back focus on the need for MAG reform. Our report on multistakeholderism had identified the lack of transparency and geogr...

Last month saw important developments in the discourse around the right to be forgotten. Two high courts, Gujarat and Karnataka, delivered judgments on separate pleas to have particular judgments either removed from online repositories and search engine results or have personal information redacted ...

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court heard a petition seeking directions to ensure audio-visual recording of the proceedings in trial courts. The reasoning behind the request was that recording proceedings would enhance the fairness of trials. The Supreme Court decided to limit the question to whet...

The Supreme Court heard arguments in Sabu Mathew George v. Union of India today. This writ petition was filed in 2008, with the intention of banning ‘advertisement’ offering sex selective abortions and related services, from search engine results. According to the petitioner, these advertisements vi...

By Sthavi Asthana and Anushka Sachdev 1 Watching Dangal was a truly memorable experience, from the high adrenaline wrestling scenes to the rush of pure pride during the last scene, where Geeta Phogat (Fatima Sana Shaikh) wins the first gold medal in wrestling for the country. It showcases how Mahavi...

by sflc_admin | February 9, 2017 ‘Internetshutdowns.in’ launched by SFLC.in as a one stop destination for resources on Internet shutdowns in India New Delhi, February 8: Delhi-based not-for-profit legal services organization SFLC.in today launched ‘internetshutdowns.in’, a new portal to provide poli...

Sowmya Karun In the Union Budget for 2017-18, Finance Minister Mr. Arun Jaitley announced the setting up of a dedicated Computer Emergency Response Team for the Financial Sector (Cert-Fin). The proposed emergency response team is slated to work in co-ordination with financial sector regulators and o...