Media articles

The criminal legal system is built on a hierarchy of offences. This is evident from the punishment accorded to different crimes which range from the death penalty to a fine. Brutality of an act is one way in which offences are arranged. For instance, the National Crimes Records Bureau has created category of offences titled ‘violent crimes’…

Current trajectories of the network-data complex relying on corporate partnerships cast data and intelligence as purely market goods. Investment by state in public data architectures could show the way for new possibilities in this direction. Read more for  Anita Gurumurthy's take on 'data for development partnerships'.

This post was…

Unmasking the web

“#MeToo” – the spontaneous and unstructured campaign, exposed the underbelly of sexual harassment. This campaign would not have had the results it did were it not for the Internet. However, this very same domain with its limitless reach becomes one of the most vicious weapons in perpetrating violence. Sexual harassment…

It’s the end of an era for online activism. We have lost our safe, small, intimate spaces of digital publishing to corporate giants, state-run troll armies, and idiotic online commentary. We must recognize that the politics and policing of this space have shifted under our fingertips and that we must re-strategize how we are going to play the…

First published in LSE’s Women Peace and Security blog, this article discusses the need for a feminist jurisprudence on violence against women. Laws on online VAW draw from foundational ideas that have informed interpretations of gender-based (in) justice, recognizing the immersion of human society in digital experiences. There is a presence of…

MC11 e-com battlelines drawn across three camps' gives an overview of the various positions countries have adopted on e-commerce and trade, and likely to play out at the 11th WTO Ministerial Conference from 10 to 13 December, 2017. The divergent approaches to the subject not only follows a North- South divide as is…

In the light of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) releasing recommendations on Net Neutrality, this article by Anita Gurumuthy discusses the significance of TRAI recommendations.  TRAI’ s stand presents a contrast to US government’s decision to roll back net neutrality. When Internet access is already not equal, revoking net…

Gurumurthy wrote an article 'Use of Information Technology in promoting transparency' in elections, in the Common Cause publication.

The nine-judge bench of India’s Supreme Court has just ruled that “privacy is intrinsic to freedom of life and personal liberty” guaranteed in Article 21 of the Constitution of India and qualifies as “a primal natural right”. In this article, Anita Gurumurthy and Nandini Chami reflect on how this judgement is only a beginning. The de facto…

We have been actively engaging with the debate on privacy and data protection in India, that has gained traction in the context of the unique citizen ID/ Aadhaar project of the government. Through our media articles, we have emphasised the public value of privacy, bringing in an agency perspective to the debate. We have also foregrounded the…