Indian Blogger Sued, Forced To Apologize, For Criticizing Journalist And Quoting Wikipedia

from the free-speech-isn't-free dept

Thu, Mar 5th 2009 2:14pm — Mike Masnick

Reader VivekM alerts us to an unfortunate news story in India, where a blogger who was critical of a journalist's coverage of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai last year was sued for his blog post, and then forced to take down the post and apologize. The specific issue appeared to be over a quote taken from a Wikipedia article about the journalist, rather than any actual personal attack on the journalist. Of course, in forcing the blogger to take down the content, it's kicked up quite a lot of attention and a fire storm of protest from numerous Indian bloggers who feel that this is an attack on free speech. Defamation laws are all too often used to stifle free speech, and it doesn't look like India has any sort of anti-SLAPP law to prevent these sorts of legal attacks. There's nothing wrong with being offended or bothered about criticism, but there are plenty of ways to respond to criticism without resorting to lawsuits.

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: bloggers, free speech, india, opinions

5 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

NullOp, 5 Mar 2009 @ 4:51pm

Free Speech?
I was not aware there were any laws assuring free speech in India. Of course the attack IS against free speech. Almost no one is pro free speech when something is being said that they determine does not portray them in the best light. I wonder if the site where the blog actually resided is in India. If not, do Indian laws apply?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- QA, 6 Mar 2009 @ 8:56am
  
  Re: Free Speech?
  The Constitution of India guarantees the Freedom of speech and expression to its citizens under Article 19(1) however it seems to be so limited in scope because of "reasonable restrictions" imposed on it by article 19(2), in the interest of the sovereignty and integrity of India,the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, public order, decency or morality, or in relation to contempt of court,defamation or incitement to an offence.
  
  It is an unfortunate things as even the supreme Court of India has taken criticism as contempt of court and denied the freedom of speech to its citizens(Arundhati Roy case)
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 5 Mar 2009 @ 5:32pm

The worst part is this aggressive journalist Burkha Dutta pretends to be a big guard of free speech.

There is free speech in India. But most of the time it is suppressed to protect against defamation. It is a sorry situation.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- QA, 6 Mar 2009 @ 8:59am
  
  Re:
  Yes,she is aggressive, insensitive and so full of herself that in the zeal of being the first and most effective journalist she has lost any sight of ethical journalism or correct reporting.
  
  Next , maybe she will sue us on Facebook- the group with over 4000 members- Please Take Barha off Air- just goes onto show her "popularity" ;)
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Sandip Dev, 23 Nov 2009 @ 7:09pm

Defamation laws
Well I have been getting a few "I will sue you" messages from some people over some of the content on my blog. What are the laws? Can people really sue me?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]