At the UN, India advocates its domestic digital policies to the world

At the recently concluded United Nations Ad Hoc Committee on cybercrime in Vienna, the Indian external affairs ministry’s contributions have raised eyebrows back home. The Ad Hoc Committee is framing international conventions countering the use of information and communications technologies for criminal purposes. India’s written submission to the committee reveals that it wants other nations to pursue many of its domestic policies in the digital domain. For instance, India wants other member states to adopt domestic legislative measures against the transmission and publishing of any sexual acts and conduct a.k.a. ban online pornography. Currently, India has banned 857 porn websites as instructed by the Department of Telecommunications to Internet Service Providers (ISPs) operating in the country. 

News reports point out, India has also proposed to member states measures to criminalise “offensive” messages. The language used in the submission is a duplication of Section 66A of the Information Technology Act which was struck down by the Supreme Court of India. Section 66A was struck down for being unconstitutionally vague since the definition of “offensive content” and “of being menacing character” gave broad leeway to law enforcement officials. Reportedly, if the resolution passes muster, India will be compelled to meet an international obligation and pass similar laws. The Indian Express quotes an Indian government official who said that the language from Section 66A was used in the submission  to gauge the global consensus on the idea of penalising objectionable content on social media and that the delegation’s aim was deliberate with other nations on how to make the provision better.

 The Economic Times, which reviewed copies of the speeches made by the Indian delegation, reports that India is seeking global cooperation against virtual private networks (VPNs), end-to-end encryption, and cryptocurrencies and argued that these technologies have become vital for terrorist operations. India’s Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-in) issued guidelines for VPNs asking them to maintain a log of all users using their service (and ultimately defeating the purpose of a VPN) prompting some players to close their India operations. The information technology rules of 2021 require Internet platforms to provide government authorities access to the first originator of messages (and ultimately defeating the purpose of end-to-end encryption of messages). Various aspects of the new IT rules are being challenged in various courts. India’s position on cryptocurrencies has turned hostile with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) leading the charge against them in various forums, saying that cryptocurrencies will aid in terror financing. India’s submission to the Ad Hoc Committee also proposes international co-operation on freezing and return of such terrorist financing proceeds. 

 India's international positions will have a huge role in shaping global policies in the years to come, given the millions of Internet users in the country.  And we have  a responsibility to do this well. Wemust adopt a more consultative approach when shaping domestic technology laws so that other nations may emulate more inclusive and rights-based policies.