India shifting in the direction of Chinese language mannequin on web management, says Cloudflare CEO

The Narendra Modi government’s dispute with social media companies, including its WhatsApp and Twitter litigation, has prompted a review of the direction of internet regulation in India.

The perception that the Modi government is trying to tighten internet regulation is gaining momentum around the world. On Monday, Matthew Prince, the CEO and co-founder of Cloudflare, stated that India is apparently moving towards a “Chinese model” in internet regulation.

Cloudflare is a large US IT company that specializes in web security and networks. Prince spoke in an online chimney chat with Joyce Hakmeh, a senior cyber policy research fellow at the UK think tank Chatham House. The fireside chat was organized by RightsCon, a platform on human rights in the digital age.

Prince said, “What we’ve been seeing from India so far seems to be moving more towards a Chinese model. And that’s what we all have to pay attention to … to think about whether we want to follow the entire internet. “

China has maintained tight control over the internet, with most of the global social media platforms unavailable in the country.

Prince emphasized, “Watch India very closely; there is a lot of thought there about the future of Internet regulation.”

Regarding the increased risk of hacking and other cyber threats, Prince noted, “When governments start thinking about how to control cybersecurity there will be temptation to do other things like journalism they don’t like and deviant behavior to throw in a pot. .. It is important for this community (internet rights activists) to be very attentive and tired of watching the governments take action … we have to make sure that this does not fall into other censorship and control. “

Prince fought for freedom from social media channels, noting that the “ultimate” responsibility for content rests with the person who publishes it. Prince said, “The ultimate responsibility rests with the person who publishes this content, including the platform (e.g., Twitter, Shopify, etc.). We believe it is important to ensure that the underlying internet itself [the network] is not used to censor online content as it poses enormous challenges and risks. “

Prince emphasized that regulating the Internet was a diverse topic. “The challenge right now is that the world is not entirely satisfied with any of these models [the American or Chinese model] regulation, “said Prince, adding,” The Internet is more expensive and therefore more fragile to manage than I think the average person knows … It is important that everyone understands that the Internet is not ‘magic’, so that we can create effective guidelines, regulations, etc. “

Prince warned activists to be careful that “governments are sliding around regulating content by hiding it in the form of cybersecurity regulations.”