Report from Guardian
In Brief – India’s government has withdrawn a controversial directive requiring all smartphone manufacturers to pre-install the state-run Sanchar Saathi security app after intense public and political backlash. The Department of Telecommunications confirmed the revocation of the order, which had quietly instructed technology companies in late November to ensure the app appeared on every new smartphone sold in India within 90 days. The initial order, which drew comparisons to Russia’s recent mandate requiring that a government-linked messaging app be pre-loaded on all smartphones, triggered widespread concerns from digital rights groups and opposition lawmakers, who warned it could pave the way for mass surveillance. Critics also alleged the app could function as a “kill switch” capable of disabling devices, a power that could potentially be misused against journalists, dissidents, or political opponents. Indian officials defended the Sanchar Saathi app as a citizen-protection tool designed to block or track lost phones, report fraudulent calls, and curb cybercrime.
Context – China’s Great Firewall is clearly the aspirational technology goal for authoritarian governments around the world. Putin’s Russia, Erdogan’s Turkey, Modi’s India, each intermittently make news for their latest efforts restricting online speech. But the trendline is up almost everywhere. Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore in Asia. Africa has been a hotbed, with a 2021 report claiming that 31 of 54 African countries had blocked social media platforms in some manner since 2015. X has been engaged in a multiyear legal challenge in India to block a centralized social media takedown system run by the government and suffered a setback in the Karnataka High Court in September. Given Elon Musk’s other major business interests in India, many have been surprised that X has been willing to challenge the government in recent years on social media regulation, especially when most other US-based tech companies have been reticent to get into political fights in what is widely considered a top long-term digital and AI growth market.