India to Revise Enforcement of Internet Law

The Indian government will soon bar lower-level police officials from arresting people for making offensive comments on social networking sites unless the case is first reviewed by a senior police official, said Kapil Sibal, the communications minister. The recent arrests of two young women for their mild criticism of powerful people “are certainly an abuse of the law,” he said. But rather than change the law, he advocated changing its enforcement. “The law is evolutionary, the process is evolutionary,” he said. “Let us now wait for another four to six months; let us wait to see if the process is adequate.”