According to the 2015 edition of the Freedom on the Net report, internet autonomy in India has improved for the second year running. The country is under the partly free category with a score of 40.
The annual report, compiled by Freedom House, found worldwide online freedom has declined for the 5th consecutive year. The study observed that governments have increasingly censored information, cracked down on privacy tools and expanded their surveillance activities. Overall, 18 nations were classified as free, 28 partly free and 19 not free.
Iceland, Estonia, Canada, Germany and Australia led the top 5, while China was ranked the lowest with a score of 88. India’s middling position is based on a number of events which took place last year. Positive developments include the Supreme Court taking down Section 66A of the IT Act, which was the reason behind numerous arrests for online speeches.
The net neutrality movement, which garnered over 1 million supporters, was also a big plus as it sought to prevent laws which would allow platforms to favor one business or charge extra for certain websites. Additionally, the Supreme Court made Section 69A of the IT Act more transparent and reinforced liability protection for technology companies.
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Negatives include the government’s website blocks, which affected entire sites like Google Docs and Vimeo. The document further questions the effectiveness of a privacy bill currently being drafted, as it thinks law enforcement bodies in India want to find a way to be exempt from it.
While the Freedom on the Net report acknowledged there were no cases of illegal surveillance within the observation period, it believes the administration is set to continue the development of a Central Monitoring System to keep a watch on citizen’s digital communications.