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At a time when WhatsApp and Twitter are in a tussle with the government over the new IT Rules, lawyer and public policy researcher Smriti Parsheera, speaking before a nationwide audience, discusses questions on accountability, free speech and what privacy means on social media. Edited excerpts:

The world over, including in India, there is this concept, the idea of intermediaries being exempt, the safe harbour being provided to them, as long as they are not actively engaged in the transmission that is taking place on their network. What the Indian government is now trying to do with these rules is try to change the balance of what the established legal position on that has been. And while it is hard to fault them on the basis of why this is being done, I think there is much to fault in the manner in which this is being done. So thats really the background of why states want to intervene, where this is coming from, and I think on the other part of it, there is obviously a geopolitical angle to all of this.

India is not alone in asserting digital sovereignty. This is happening across Europe. Germany already has a law which does a lot of what India is seeking to do through these intermediary rules. Europe is in the process of debating a new Digital Services Act and digital markets But we are far from a settled position on this. I think everywhere, this will be litigated because there are key issues of freedom of speech and expression, so it is a few years before we reach a kind of a settled global position on any of this.

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On putting liability on social media companies, which are not creating content

As per the safe harbour principle, which we now also adopt in the Information Technology Act Section 79 deals with that the point is that they are not. Subject to complying with certain conditions, they are not liable for third party conduct or using services that they provide, as long as they are not editing this content, they are not airing or abetting an unlawful activity happening through their platform, and when they have knowledge received on behalf of the government, or on behalf of a court order, then they do something to take down that comment, or they restrict access to that comment.

So there are circumstances in which that safe harbour will be broken. So as long as you meet the rules and requirement of this area, the primary law says that they would be entitled to an exemption to liability. But it says that in addition to not doing all of these things, they need to exercise due diligence, and they need to abide by the guidelines framed by the government. And these new guidelines are those which the government expects them to abide by and rely upon in order to continue to gain the benefits of intermediary exemption.

So there are certain obligations, and some of these already existed in the 2011 version which have been tweaked and strengthened. So the broad starting obligation is that for everyone who is a user of these intermediaries, they have an obligation to convey to them that these are the dos and donts on my platform so you cant do intellectual property breaches So actually some of that is also problematic. To take an example, they say you cant put out a comment which is patently false and put out with the intent to harm someone. And the intermediary is saying it is typical to find this in terms and conditions, but if someone starts thinking and enforcing this and applying their mind in every scenario, then of course it becomes problematic on what you want the intermediary to do, and when will something be offensive, and how is something determined to be patently false, and how will they know the intent of the person behind putting out that patently false message.

So for all intermediaries, there is a requirement of a grievance redressal mechanism to be created and there is definitely a mechanism to access that.

The whole reason we had intermediary guidelines and this idea of safe harbour came about in Indian law, is related to a case that took place in 2004 where this company called baazi.com, a subsidiary of eBay, had their CEO who was prosecuted directly in his individual capacity as the director for an offence which involved an explicit sexual MMS clip being sold on that platform. So this was a person and the grievance against him was that they didnt exercise due diligence, they didnt have the right filtering mechanism And this person felt that the CEO as well as the general manager of the company should be individually liable for it. This was, of course, subsequently turned down by later courts, but the fact that this happened and the fact that an employee of a company who is really not in a position to assess all content that goes up and verify it and take that down So there is a requirement for having systems in place, but to have individual liability for employees problems come with that.

This is the classic problem that in a lot of legal texts is called the chilling effect. What is the chilling effect on speech when you have certain regulations around what speech is permitted and not permitted? Then the tendencies of people making that speech is to avoid that zone of ambiguity altogether and self-censor and not say things which could potentially be taken down, potentially lead you through any kind of trouble.

Once these systems are in place and there is sanction to do it for xyz things, there is this problem of mission creep. This notion of mission creep is that when a technology is set up for a certain purpose, you often end up saying that why not use it for that purpose also.

On where the user fits in all this

As a user, you have very little agency in a lot of these transactions taking place between these intermediaries. So there are two ways the user needs to and could have a voice. One is about consultation and debate around any of these rules before they came into place

The second part is in our capacity as individuals who are users of these services vis-a-vis the companies. The bigger problem with privacy both vis-a-vis the company as well as the government is that a lot of the time the harms from privacy violations are invisible. Today I dont realise what is the problem if this data is shared or if the data goes out somewhere. The only time someone thinks about it is when there are data breach incidents. But for the rest of it, a lot of the harms from privacy are invisible because I dont realise the manner in which my thought process is being re-shaped, where the secondary uses of data are happening and what could happen in the future based on my data because not all decisions about me are based on my data, they are based on data of people who are profiled in a similar manner as me

People come with this mindset that I have nothing to hide, so why should I care about this? But the point is that everyone has a password on their emails, everyone has certain boundaries around information they regard as private. And if you think about the level of intrusion which is possible, if there is a system from which all traffic between all users in the country is flowing, which the government can access through a centralised monitoring system, you would worry a little more about it.

I wouldnt say you have no redressal, but we dont have an effective redressal. So the provision that does exist is Section 43(A) of the Information Technology Act, which basically says that if there is a corporate who takes your sensitive personal information and fails to take reasonable security measures to protect that information, and there is harm caused to you, they are entitled to give you compensation for that. But in practice, it is not something most users know about, or implemented very often.

Of course, this is all supposed to be redressed through the Personal Data Protection Bill which we have been debating for a while.

One of the important things that came out of the right to privacy judgment was that the right to privacy has two aspects. It gives you protection against the state and the state is not supposed to breach your privacy in a manner unless its fair, just and reasonable. So it is not absolute protection, but there is a framework around that. But you need to go to a court, you need to claim a constitutional breach of the right, which is again, in theory available to everyone but in practice not really accessible for everyone to do that. But there is also an obligation on the state to make sure that third parties are not able to violate my privacy. To put in place a legal framework, which protects me, thats really where this Data Protection Bill is emanating from.

There is one set of provisions which apply to all of data fiduciary. The Justice Srikrishna Committee used this term data fiduciary where they say we want the person deciding what to do with the data to be called a fiduciary. So they cast a whole set of obligations with the fiduciaries which start with the basic requirements like notice to the person on what the data is being used for, take only as much data as is necessary for your specific purpose. So there is a whole set of rights being given to individuals that I have the ability to access my data and find out what each entity has about me; if there is a problem in it I have a right to ask for correction of it, I have a right to be forgotten where there is a balancing to be done between my privacy and the public interest of that data. But there is a clause even within this law which talks about significant data fiduciary. And again it talks about social media intermediaries being included within this, which have an enhanced set of obligations. So, before you start doing your processing of certain kinds of data, youll need to have frameworks that talk about what kind of processing you will need to do, how will this be done, you will need a third party independent audit of all of these processes. One doesnt know what those limits would be, but it is possible since these two policy processes are happening in parallel that it might be the same as the intermediary rules.

On whether weakening of encryption, as demanded, can result in government using it to track activists and political opponents

This whole reciprocity of how things work on the Internet is really important for countries to realise. Any obligation that you want on foreign entities will also be expected at some point to be replicated on your entity in other jurisdictions. India might be thinking that it has more foreign companies than Indian companies abroad, but it is a very valid point that you should be able to reciprocate with similar obligations being imposed on your companies and misuse and tracking. That is a legitimate concern and that can happen.

On what is wrong in government trying to control social media

Intermediaries should not be the judges of speech, they should not become the gatekeepers of speech, and even if they are, we need to be much more accountable, but I think the need to regulate that and the need to have some controls around that does not have to necessarily be conflated with the question of intermediary liability and the question of safe harbour. You can have legal requirements like for example the data protection requirement is imposing obligations on significant intermediaries , but its not linking a breach of that to the fact that now we will hold you liable for the fake news that took place, or for the underlying crime that was committed

Transcribed by Mehr Gill

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Smriti Parsheera: Need to put systems in place, but to have individual liability for employees problems come with that - The Indian Express

This is exactly what the New York Giants were hoping for when quarterback Eli Manning returned to the team last month.

On Monday, the Giants announced plans for Fan Fest next month during training camp at MetLife Stadium. The team then announced on Twitter that it was aware of some technical difficulties fans were having with securing tickets to the event.

We are aware of errors fans are receiving while trying to secure tickets for Giants Fan Fest. We are working to resolve them and will provide an update shortly. Tickets will remain available and no one will be shut out!

Thats where Manning comes in. He followed up the tweet from the team account with one of his own:

I am working on this. Part of my new job requirements. Control/Alt/Delete is not working so far.

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The Giants announced in June Manning was rejoining the franchise in an off-the-field capacity. In the teams press release announcing the move, Manning made it quite clear hes ready to roll up his sleeves.

After not being able to come back in the facility for a full year, to finally see my former teammates and the individuals Ive spent the past 16 years with like the trainers and equipment guys, video, scouting, management, owners its incredibly exciting to be back, Manning said. Staying involved with this organization is very important to me. I love the organization, love the Giants and the fans, and so I want to do anything possible to help them out and be a part of it. Mannings new role will include several assignments.

Im willing to do anything, he said. But Im focused on the business side with corporate partners and on community relations, which was always so important to me while I was playing here and is something, Ive placed a high priority on throughout my life. Im looking forward to seeing where I can make the most impact in helping the Giants achieve their business and community goals.

As for Fan Fest, heres what you need to know:

To celebrate the return of fans for the 2021 NFL season, the New York Giants will host the 2021 Giants Fan Fest presented by Quest Diagnostics at MetLife Stadium on Wednesday, August 11 at 6 p.m.

Fans can enjoy an evening of football, food and fun as the Giants hold their only open practice of the year. The Giants Fan Fest will feature fun activities for all ages, autographs by Giants Legends, select discounted concession and apparel items, as well as a spectacular post-practice fireworks show.

Reserve free digital tickets for this special event by visitingGiants.com/FanFest.

Get Giants text messages:Cut through the clutter of social media and text directly with beat writers. Plus, exclusive news and analysis. Sign up now for a free trial.

Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription.

Mike Rosenstein may be reached at mrosenstein@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here.

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Giants Eli Manning reminds everyone why hes so much fun to follow on Twitter - NJ.com

David, a 7-year-old Haitian boy, hangs on a window in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, January 2006. (AP Photo / Brennan Linsley)

EDITORS NOTE: Last night, after this piece went to press, a team of attackers broke into President Jovenel Moises private residence above Port-au-Prince and in a hail of machine gun fire assassinated the president and injured his wife.Prime Minister Claude Joseph has declared a state of siege. The streets of the capital are empty and silent this morning, as the people of Haiti wait to see what will emerge after the killing.

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The last time I was in Haiti, in December 2019, there had been several kidnappings before I arrivedand there would be many, many more after I leftbut my two-week visit was blessedly free of kidnappings, murder, etc. Back then you could imagine you were semi-safe driving at nightif you had a car full of male friends driving behind you, and another one in front of you.

But now, some five months into the illegal extension of the presidential term of Jovenel Moise, tinpot tyrant extraordinaire, there is not even that semi-safety. Sois prudent, the habitual sign-off on all phone calls and e-mails to friends in Haiti, has become a useless caution, a weak attempt to keep people safe, since every act of living life in Haiti right now other than staying home (and sometimes even that) poses a mortal risk.

On the night of June 29, Haitian human-rights activist Antoinette Duclaire, 33, and her friend and colleague Diego Charles, 33, a journalist for Radio Tele Vision 2000, were assassinated in Port-au-Prince by killers who have as yet to be captured, if they are even being pursued. The charismatic Duclaire was a courageous and visible feminist who also spoke out eloquently against corruption and impunity in the Moise government and among its powerful associates. On the same night she was killed, more than 20 other people were also slaughtered in the streets of the capital. Duclaire, at the wheel of her car, was hit by seven bullets, two to the head, several more to the chest.

Duclaires killing topped off a few weeks of unceasing and chaotic violence in a Haiti that is unrecognizable to those of us who have followed it over the past few decadesand to Haitians old enough to remember Haiti before Moise and his mentor, the previous president, Michel Martelly, took over after the 2010 earthquake. Of course, the unpredictable danger in the streets makes it nearly impossible to organize opposition to Moise or to hold the kind of large protest demonstrations that can dislodge sitting regimes. MORE FROM Amy Wilentz

Among ourselves, Haiti watchers have marveled at the lack of reporting on the situation in the international media. Usually the international media is quick to cover Haitis dysfunctions. And Haiti is now at its most dysfunctional. Port-au-Princes southwestern quadrant has been nearly inaccessible for at least a month, under siege by pitched territorial battles between heavily armed gangs that rule the city with utter impunity. The police are invisible and the government silent. Since June 1, the UN has estimated, more than 13,000 Haitians have been forced to flee their homes by ongoing gang violence. Gang leaders like the articulate and charismatic gang leader Jimmy Cherizier (alias Barbecue) have found the current political vacuum a comfortable place in which to develop a following beyond their own neighborhood turf.

This comes after a long and tumultuous period of prison breaks, kidnappings and murders, assassination of government critics, violent attacks on doctors, lawyers, and shopkeepersthat is, the dwindling Haitian middle classand murderous settlings of private grudges and feuds.

All of this, however, is apparently only worth a shrug to the international community that has long been guiding (if that is the word I want) Haitian affairs. The Organization of American States, the United Nations, and the United States have continued to support Haitis incompetent, irresponsible, corrupt, and deadly government, whose rule was slated to have come to an end in February of this year but has hung on through a technicality approved by these advisers, as those advisers cling to the idea that an election run by Moise can fix things. He himself was elected, is the basis of their argument in support of Moise. There must be a peaceful transfer of powerCurrent Issue

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In 1991 and again in 2004, however, this same international community permittedsome might say encouragedtwo successful coups dtat to go forward against the overwhelmingly popular and democratically elected president Jean Bertrand Aristide. In 1986, the Reagan administration moved late but efficiently to get rid of a very different chief executive, President-for-life Jean-Claude (Baby Doc) Duvalier, when it became clear that his dynastic dictatorship was no longer able to control the country. Since the US Marine occupation of 19151934, the Americans along with their many friends in the Caribbean basin have long been able to pull the strings of Haitian puppets to get the results they desire and to put obstacles in the way of movements of which they disapprove.

Yet it seems that there is no way to convince todays Core Group, the pet name for the network of governments and international institutions that have traditionally been involved in advising Haiti (including Canada, France, the Dominican Republic, and the EU, as well as the US, the UN, and the OAS), that Moise is not a functioning executive. The group seems to hold nothing against him, including his governments decision in mid-March to send poorly armed and trained officers into a gang-controlled shantytown, where they were slaughtered like animals. Video footage of this was all over Haitian social media for any member of the Core Group to see.

In spite of strong congressional opposition to continuing US support of Moise, the Biden administrations position remains unclear. Thus far the United States has continued Donald Trumps position of supporting Moiseeven as it issues dire on-the-ground warnings about conditions in Haiti. In mid-June the embassy in Port-au-Prince published the State Departments level 4 travel advisory: Do Not Traveldue to kidnapping, crime, and civil unrest, and Covid-19. If you must travel to Haiti, the embassy had a long message to US citizens in Haiti, full of dire advice.

Always carry your cell phone, they counseled, and ensure it is charged before you travel. Ensure you have important numbers programmed into your phone. More ominously, the embassy advised Americans to consider using code names for family and friends in the contacts list on their phones. Since November 13, 2018, the National Network for Human Rights has documented 470 killed and 83 disappeared in attacks and massacres, not including the most recent skirmishes in the southern neighborhoods of Port-au-Prince. These numbers dont begin to convey, however, the sense of insecurity in the streets, nor do they include attacks on and killings of single individuals or small groups.

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To add to this heady mix of impending doom, Covid is surging in the country, and there is little oxygen for the few ventilators available, to say nothing of the enormous risk in transporting the oxygen through chaotic streets to places where its needed. Very few hospital beds are available in a country where even in normal times such beds are frequently shared by strangers. Leading lights of the older generation, the eminences grises of Haitis intellectual, literary, and political life, are falling to the disease like columns in an earthquake.

Nor has the government provided a single Covid vaccination, though outside institutions and governments have offered to give Haiti hundreds of thousands of shots since the vaccines were first produced. As usual, Moise is absent from the scene. Of course, if inoculations do somehow manage to come into the country, its doubtful thatunder present political conditionsthey can be delivered efficiently and safely to the Haitian population. On the same day that Duclaire was killed, Doctors Without Borders, which has been working in Haiti for 30 years, closed its emergency room at a facility that had been targeted for attack by gangs in one of the most violent neighborhoods. It also shut down its Covid treatment center there.

Stability used to be what the international community sought in Haiti. In the early days of US involvement in the country, calm was encouraged in order to create an atmosphere in which foreign-run businesses, maquiladora-style factories, mining interests, and sugar and other growers could run safely and profitably. Later as political fashions changed, human rights, free speech, democratic elections and so on were added to the list of political items to support, though stability one way or another always has been the overriding goal.

For years now, the US has supported elections in Haiti as the best way to encourage democracy and stability. But some democratic elections are more democratic than others. Haitis last two presidential elections were low-turnout affairs whose results were contested by the democratic opposition in Haiti, and whose victors, including Moise, have governed the country with minimal popular support for the past 10 years, as well as minimal democratic trappings (gone is the legislature and the network of countryside magistrates; the courts have been largely disabled), though backed throughout the stormy electoral process and its aftermath by the Core Group.

Perhaps Biden, having only recently survived an attack on the validity of his own election, is reluctant to question the credentials of an elected sitting president like Moise, no matter how controversial the vote that put him in place, no matter how dangerous he is to his people and their future. Can it be that the US president is considering the political optics for himself as he pursues his ill-advised policy in Haiti?

The kind of security that has long been touted by the Americans as essential for doing business as usual in Haitiand as the most important byproduct of democracyhas vanished. Instead, gang violence has brought business and its most important byproduct, employment, to a halt. Haitis business as usual no longer consists of decent enterprises and manufacturing. Factory owners can no longer operate because the roads are controlled by the gangs. Foreigners and Haitian-Americans who work with Haitian firms have been leaving the country as quickly as they can. And embezzlement and thievery among port, customs, banking, import-export, and lottery bosses continue apace with at least implicit government tolerance if not involvement in the violent and capricious rule of the business mafia and the gangs. Under Moise, practices that were occasional, if entrenchedlike extortion and protectionhave become national profit centers.

The most dedicated backer of the Moise administration throughout his embarrassing tenure has been the OAS. At the end of last month, June, after the killing of the police officers, after a series of grotesque kidnappings and murders, after arson attacks and the closing down of whole districts by gang turf wars, a blithely optimistic report by the OAS based on a three-day visit by a five-member mission recommended that Moise name a new prime minister and cabinet, establish security in the country, inaugurate a new electoral council to replace the partisan one he recently appointed, and proceed to elections before years end. It had been hoped by many, including this reporter, that the OAS was about to give up on the Moise government, as any sane advisor to Haiti would have by now. But no.

The mission representatives spoke with various civil-society and political leaders. Mostly they met with nonentities, refusing to meet with and or failing to meet with the most visible and popular grassroots and opposition organizations. Many members of the opposition refused also refused to meet the OAS representatives. Like Mr. Smith, a perennial American presidential candidate in Graham Greenes 1960s Haiti novel The Comedians, the OAS has happy plans for Haiti (Mr. Smith wants to bring cheery vegetarianism to Papa Docs dark corner of the world). But Mr. Smith, though foolish, is not dangerous. Hes an innocent. The OAS, though foolish and dangerous, cannot be innocent, and isnt.

Did the mission members get out into the streets of Port-au-Prince and see what was really happening while they were there, as a spike in gang violence forced more than 5,000 people from their homes between June 1 and June 10, the final day of their visit? Of course not. Such missions are kept in the most secure conditions possible, never mixing with the actual population.

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And since their visit, several further opposition neighborhoods in the capital have been burned, four police stations taken over, and traffic to the south cut off. Heavily armed men roamed the broad boulevards of the capital and the shantytowns narrow alleyways. Children with blank eyes watch as gang members march kidnap victims deep into the shantytowns.

In such conditions, it defies all common sense to try to conduct a democratic election. An election, sure, but what kind of election? Neighborhoods are burning; kidnappings continue; massacre, murder, and rape are commonwho will go out and vote in such a place?

Thirty-three years ago, on November 29, 1987, under the post-Duvalier military-civilian junta put into power with United States approval, voters in the first post-dictatorship election were attacked with machine guns and machetes at the ballot box. I was there. I saw the Duvalierists in their dining room, planning what turned out to be the attack. Later that day, I surveyed the results, the bloodstained floors, the trampled ballots, the shoes left behind in panicked flight. Eighteen voters were killed, and the election aborted.

What we want, says Monica Clesca, a Haitian communications expert and a retired UN official who is a member of the Commission Pour la Recherche dune Solution, one of several groups that have come into being in response to the current crisis, is a definitive transformative solution, not quick, illegitimate elections that will bring us back to a crisis again in a couple of years. The commission already has in hand a draft of an agreement among stakeholders in a future Haiti; those theyve included in discussions have been political leaders, human rights organizations, civil society associations, influential figures, the private sector, labor, and grassroots groups, among others. Such agreements can fall apart in practice, especially considering the firepower and unpredictable affiliations of the gangs, but as a beginning theyre essential, and the commission hopes that there can be cooperation with the Core Group, having most of all to do with security during a transition.

The longer the international community supports Moise with its fantasies of democratic elections during his rule, the more Haitians like Antoinette Duclaire will die at the hands of the gangs Moise has never seriously tried to rein in. Haiti needs a Haitian solution to its current fix, a solution supported and accompanied by responsible international friends and advisers. An election under Moises control will either be a charade during which he ships his personal voters in armored cars to the balloting places under gang protection, or it will simply provide an excuse for yet another bloodbath.

Elections are dangerous when theyre only for show. And probably Moise is not intending to hold one, anyway.

Link:
Haiti Has Been Abandonedby the Media, the US, and the World - The Nation

Helen Nickisson/Stuff

Studio-5 at Springlands School in Blenheim is where a small media team are producing their own audiovisual content, promoting activities within the school. Coco Sorrell (camera), left, and Penny Soper (floor manager) go through their show.

Road control, playground patrols, the school's sausage sizzle and Subway lunches, the media team at Springlands School arent scared to go after the big stories.

And it all happens from Studio-5, also known as Room 5, under the watchful eye of teacher Glen Mackie.

The Studio-5 team was excited to be visited by Stuff and Marlborough Express visual journalist Brya Ingram last week, who had herself been taught by Mackie when attending Bohally Intermediate some years ago.

Ingram shared her experiences working on the newspaper, and told the children how her journey with photography, and more recently videography, had begun with taking photos for her school.

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Helen Nickisson/Stuff

Stuff/Marlborough Express visual journalist Brya Ingram chats to the media team at Springlands School about her journey into photography and videography.

This had transitioned after school to working part-time at The Marlborough Express, while giving the remainder of her time to growing her own photography business.

It's awesome that the kids are being given this opportunity at their age, and I take my hat off to Glen Mackie for making this happen for them, Ingram said.

She shared with the children how her work differed from what they were doing, and said she couldnt wait to see how they developed and what they were able to produce.

Helen Nickisson/Stuff

Teacher Glen Mackie watches over the team, from left, Tanith Bester (music and titles), Alice Brown (audio mixing) and Maddie Dasler (vision mixing) as they record their show.

Mackie started with the current group at the beginning of this year, and said that he wanted to push their interest to see what they could obtain from it, and take the opportunity to light their fire.

Brya is a great example to them of how it can go as far as you want to take it, he said.

Mackie was self-taught, and said his knowledge came from his own passion for media, photography, video, and music.

I wanted to inspire in the children that this is so accessible to them now, and if they want to do these sorts of things, it comes down to their own passions, he said.

The children filmed their own video footage, did interviews, and pieced it all together in the studio. They used a range of different devices, from a small action camera to a large broadcast camera.

The partitioned Studio-5 control room was where they did all their planning and rehearsals, and was also the quiet space for the control team, while the set was out in the classroom itself.

Helen Nickisson/Stuff

On set are, from left, Tana Barron (teleprompter), Coco Sorrell (camera), Penny Soper (floor manager) and Tuscany Johnson (host/presenter).

They were currently filming individual segments about road control, playground patrols, the school's sausage sizzle, and Subway lunches. These were used to promote leadership opportunities within the school.

Their productions are shared first and foremost with the parents from the class, because it's all about what Room 5 are up to, but then also we'll put it on the school notices website for the school, Mackie said.

They also covered school events, assembly items, and footage for learning for other classes. They'll do pretty much anything they can get their teeth into, Mackie said.

Helen Nickisson/Stuff

The team work at producing their show. The segment being recorded was about road control, with previously recorded footage added.

The little media team said their 'job' gave them a sense of importance. I feel like a 'step up' from the others in the class, because when they're busy with other stuff, we're in here doing this, said Penny Soper. I really enjoy it. It's a big opportunity.

I would like to capture some footage of some really important stuff to Marlborough, she said.

Documentaries and films were on their radar, and their teacher was doing all he could to give wings to their vision.

They're ready to really get their wheels on and go for it, he said.

Helen Nickisson/Stuff

Being part of the Studio-5 media team gives the crew a sense of importance.

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The future of media building their skills in Room 5 - Stuff.co.nz

The government is exaggerating the narrative of fake news, says director of The Hindu Group in an interview to Stephen Sackur for BBCs HARDTalk segment.

Under the guise of regulating the social media intermediaries, the Narendra Modi government is trying to control the digital media which has been more defiant than the mainstream media, N. Ram, director, The Hindu Group, has said in an interview to Stephen Sackur for BBCs HARDTalk segment.

He was speaking on the topic Is freedom of expression under threat in the worlds biggest democracy.

Mr. Ram said that the new Information Technology (IT) rules brought out by the government were problematic. Former Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad while announcing the new Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021 said they were soft-touch oversight mechanisms to deal with issues such as persistent spread of fake news.

Mr. Ram said that the government was exaggerating the narrative of fake news. India has not been bombarded by fake news, he said. There may be instances of disinformation but there were already laws to tackle that, he added.

Under the guise of regulating the social media intermediaries, the government is trying to control the digital media who are far more defiant than the mainstream media, Mr. Ram added. He said that the rules were vague on what constituted digital media. Most of the newspapers had digital presence where a lot of the print material was replicated, so the question was would there be two sets of rules for the same content.

He concurred with Mr. Sackurs assessment that many of the media houses appeared more than willing to toe the government line. I couldnt agree more. This is a familiar criticism, he said.

To a question by Mr. Sackur on Indian medias coverage of the COVID-19, Mr. Ram conceded that the pandemic had exposed the limits of Indian journalism. More than 500 journalists have died in the line of duty. Many of them died because they did not believe the numbers put up by the government and went to crematoriums to count the bodies themselves, Mr. Ram said. Though, he rued that Indian journalism might not have the wherewithal or the data skills required to challenge the death toll. He also appreciated The New York Times for their piece on the under-reporting of the death toll by the government. We havent done a good enough job, he said.

He was also asked questions on hounding Rana Ayyub who contributed for a few Western publications. Applauding Ms. Ayyubs courage for fearlessly expressing her opinion Mr. Ram said not everyone was like her. He added that though what was happening to Ms. Ayyub was not completely representative of the situation on ground. The governments policy has had a chilling effect. A lot of journalists have held back, self-restrained and self-censored for various reasons, he added.

On Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who Mr. Sackur pointed out enjoyed the popular mandate, Mr. Ram said, There are many examples of elected leaders turning autocratic and authoritarian around the world. This was not the first time, Mr. Ram said, that India had had an autocratic leader pointing at the Emergency imposed by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. But the nature of this autocracy was very different, and all agencies available at the governments disposal, Mr. Ram said, were utilised to silence dissent. He particularly pointed out the example of English news channel NDTV against whom investigations were going on by the Enforcement Directorate.

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Modi govt. trying to control digital media, which is more defiant than mainstream media: N. Ram - The Hindu