India's New IT Act: What Was the Password?

Here’s a wake-up call for those just digesting Pakistan’s ban on the “slander” of its leaders via SMS or e-mail. It might just pay to be careful while exchanging a joke about national leaders in India too. Anything you send or receive through the Net will soon come under the scanner—if it even remotely resembles anything “offensive or against national security”, you could well land up in jail. If the rules being drafted under the Information Technology (IT) Act come into force, the government will have sweeping new powers to monitor, intercept or even block any content—and also prosecute people.

Pretty soon, millions of Indian users will find that it’s no longer easy to put up just about anything on the internet without bothering about it. A photograph, a joke or an innocent, honest comment on a contentious issue could prove to be troublesome depending on how a government agency interprets it.