Today, India’s next round of challenges soon begin. Winners, losers aside, the fundamental remain, the people and their rights.
Considering our world’s ever evolving technologies, a large portion of those rights are beginning to glitch between the physical and digital sphere. Expecting the representatives of the people ensure they step it up a notch to be inclusive of these developments, cannot be too much of an ask. Prior to the general elections, for this exact reason, we set out certain demands out of the political manifestos of our parties (Read our Digital Rights Agenda here). It essentially advocates for the protection of fundamental rights within the digital sphere.
With this in mind we have written to the Government to make your digital a governance priority (Read here for more). We provide a brief of what the 6 point Digital Rights Agenda intends to cover and changes it aims to bring about. As the Agenda is largely all-encompassing of digital rights issues, we suggested that the Ministry considering including it in the 100 day agenda required by the Prime Minister from various departments and ministries.
While there are aspects that political parties may have advocated for through their manifestos, they have a long way to go before they produce results. We continue to urge the Government to strengthen the digital rights system in India upholding liberty and openness in line with the essential values of the Indian constitution. In order to achieve this, IFF will engage in all modes possible including executive bodies, legislatures as well as approaching courts and just as importantly, appeal to the members of the public.