Understanding India’s internet censorship regime, Pg10

Key Highlights:

• Indian ISPs block websites based on government and court orders under Sections 69A and 79 of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
• Implementation of blocking orders varies significantly across ISPs, leading to inconsistent access for users.
• A 2025 study testing 294 million domains found that only 1,414 out of 43,083 blocked domains were blocked by all six major ISPs surveyed.
• Blocking is most common for piracy, peer-to-peer file sharing, pornography, and gambling websites, but enforcement is inconsistent.
• Domains hosting terrorism and militancy content show higher blocking consistency across ISPs.
• Some sensitive cases, like Weibo.com and The Kashmir Walla, see perfect consensus in blocking.
• The current system lacks a standardized framework, leading to arbitrary blocking and opacity.

Detailed Insights:

• Sections 69A and 79 of the IT Act empower the government to issue blocking orders, and ISP licensing agreements mandate compliance.
• ISPs can implement blocking orders through various protocols like HTTP, TLS, and DNS, with most relying on DNS blocking due to its low cost.
• DNS blocking involves DNS poisoning, where ISPs configure their servers to return false addresses for blocked domains.
• The 2025 study revealed that blocking consistency increases for domains hosting terrorism and militancy content, indicating prioritization.
• The blocking of Weibo.com and The Kashmir Walla demonstrates that certain orders are treated with greater seriousness.
• Arbitrary blocking by ISPs is prevalent due to the absence of standardized guidelines, resulting in an inconsistent blocking landscape.
• The current regime lacks transparency, and an ideal system would disclose blocked domains, with exceptions for national security and child sexual abuse material.

Key Concepts Involved:

• ISP (Internet Service Provider): A company that provides internet access to users.
• DNS (Domain Name System): Translates domain names to IP addresses.
• DNS poisoning: Technique where ISPs return false IP addresses for blocked domains.