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Freedom of Expression vs. Regulation of Cyberspace

By Ms. Sudhiti Naskar

The world of Internet is a charming place. With no virtual boundaries of geographies, culture and class - anybody - who can afford to pay - can access and use internet to his/her benefit. Internet enables people to exercise one of the basic rights – freedom of expression; - which includes freedom of speech as well as other forms of expression like uploading painting, photographs, videos etc on the Internet. In this season of Indian election, we have all been a witness to how the premier political parties (e.g. Congress, BJP, BSP); and independent candidates like Mallika Sarabhai have used the Internet to their benefit to showcase their ideologies, agendas and arguments to wider public notice. For such power of dissemination, Internet has been called by the popular activist Richard K. Moore - a sleeping political giant. Thus, Internet can act as a prompt facilitator of democratic rights by providing groups or individuals a platform to express their ideas, thoughts, agendas etc. However, contents are heavily regulated over cyber space by the Internet Service Providers and the State; either directly or indirectly. Hence, one wonders how democratic the cyber domain can actually be if it, after all, is a subject to prolific censorship vis- a- vis freedom of expression?

Detailed Paper

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CYBER-SECURITY THREATS, INFORMATION WARFARE AND CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE PROTECTION

By Dr. Lopamudra Bandyopadhyay

The systems and networks that make up the infrastructure of society are often taken for granted, yet a disruption to just one of those systems can have dire consequences across other sectors. An entire region can become debilitated because some critical elements in the infrastructure have become disabled through natural disaster. If the disaster is man made or a result of criminal or political conspiracy, then the dangers are far greater for a rather vulnerable modern society that is based on interlinked infrastructures and whose foundations are erected on the basis of a virtual network of command and control operations. This particular academic paper deals with the dangers that are posed by the attacks of both state and non state entities on cyber space and the critical infrastructures that are the essential foundations of any modern state.

Detailed Paper