In New Delhi, India, the Hindutva Watch website, an independent research project based in the United States that documents hate crimes against religious minorities in India, is no longer accessible in the country. This comes after government officials warned the founder that they might block it.
Similarly, the India Hate Lab website, dedicated to exclusively tracking hate speech in the country, can also no longer be accessed in India, despite being available outside the country.
Raqib Hameed Naik, the founder of both projects, revealed that they received communication from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) under the IT Act regarding the potential blocking of the websites. Naik also mentioned that he is exploring legal options in response to the situation.
The government issued notices for blocking the websites under section 69A of the controversial IT Act, which empowers authorities to prevent the public from accessing information citing the “interest of sovereignty, integrity, and security” of India. The Supreme Court of India had previously struck down another section of the IT Act that allowed the government to prosecute people for sending “offensive” messages online.
Al Jazeera reached out to India’s IT ministry for comments but has not yet received a response.
Link from www.aljazeera.com