Whether it takes the form of a politically conscious music video by bands like the Beygharat Brigade in Pakistan or the organization of protests against the rape of a Mumbai woman, the internet is transforming South Asian culture and politics. The proliferation of the internet matched with the youth bulge in most South Asian countries has created opportunities for young people to challenge their social, political and cultural norms.
The internet has also offered a safer modality of dissent against state policies, which is why net access rights and privacy have been attacked and limited through various policies in South Asian nations. Unfortunately, this falls in line with global trends of nations increasing their control and surveillance of internet activities, the abuse of which was personified by revelations that the U.S. government regularly monitors electronic communications from like Pakistan[1], India[2], China, Sri Lanka, and Iran. Constitutional and international law has not kept pace with the advancements in technologies, which has left a vacuum open for nations to censor, monitor and limit internet activities across and within their borders.
As such, the fight for net rights in South Asia requires one to reimagine net rights as fundamental rights that underlie the right to information, free speech, free association, and free press that is guaranteed in every South Asian constitution. Without modernizing these long-running democratic principles to conform with technological advancements, citizens in South Asia will be left behind in the race for knowledge and socio-economic development.
Unlike other parts of the world, South Asian citizens have been subject to a slew of limits on their net access rights through government censorship based on religious or moral sentiments. In the aftermath of the release of the anti-Islam film entitled “Innocence of Muslims,” on Youtube and the protests that erupted across South Asia, Youtube requests from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India to delete the material.
While the tech giant allowed local servers to limit access to the video in India, they refused requests from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan leading to a temporary ban on Youtube access in all those countries. Each country cited to religious concerns about allowing access to anti-Islamic material on the internet. While Bangladesh and Afghanistan relented, Pakistan has maintained its ban on Youtube.
Despite its lifting of the Youtube ban, Bangladesh faced a greater crisis when a blogger was killed by Islamists for what they deemed were “blasphemous” anti-Islamic postings. The government itself jailed four bloggers for allegedly anti-Islamic materials, while banning 5 blog sites for the same reason.[3] The prosecution of bloggers based on religious sentiments has also taken place in Maldives where Ismail Khilath Rasheed’s blog was shut down by the Communications Authority of Maldives for posts advocating for religious tolerance.[4] Mr. Rasheed’s skull was later cracked during a protest, after which he was imprisoned and released in December 12. [5]
Beyond Youtube bans, countries across South Asia have also banned websites based on questions of morality. Hundreds of pornography websites have been banned in Pakistan. India also attempted to petition Google to limit the access to pornographic websites and Youtube videos that “use offensive language in reference to religious leaders.”[6] In Afghanistan, the Ministry of Communications blocked a list of sites based on morality concerns that the websites promoted gambling, alcohol, pornography and dating.[7] Sri Lanka has similarly banned 12 websites for allegedly posting pornographic material. [8]
Religious/Moral Censorship
'Many South Asian countries have adopted a form of the “Patriot Act,” from the U.S., which allowed the government to conduct warrantless electronic surveillance of terrorist suspects. '