Getting more paranoid

IN Media Watch Briefs | 15/11/2013

Predictably, Google's eighth transparency report reveals that content requests by the Indian government has gone up by 90 percent from the preceding six months for the Jan-June 2013 period. But the surprise is that, post-PRISM revelations, Google has disclosed US government requests for breaking out emergency disclosures, wiretap orders, pen registers etc, the disclosure of which is disallowed under US laws, including the infamous Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

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Amazon resisting voluntary censorship

The new term for self censorship is voluntary censorship, as proposed by companies like Netflix and Hotstar. ET reports that streaming video service Amazon Prime is opposing a move by its peers to adopt a voluntary censorship code in anticipation of the Indian government coming up with its own rules. Amazon is resisting because it fears that it may alienate paying subscribers.

Let the games begin

Clearly, the run to the 2019 elections is on. A journalist received a call from someone saying they were from Aajtak channel and were conducting a survey, asking whom she was going to vote for in 2019. On being told that her vote was secret, the caller assumed she wasn't going to vote for 'Modiji'. The caller, a woman, also didn't identify herself. A month or two earlier the same journalist received a call, this time from a man, asking if she was going to vote for the BSP.