Two more mainstream newspapers have carried editorial comments on the ISPs' arbitrary act of blocking webpages and websites.
The Hindu, in its editorial, An Assault on Free Speech, says:
"The action apparently followed a request from the Intelligence Bureau on security grounds. The order itself does not, as is the usual practice, invoke the authority of any law, nor is it clear why access was denied to the whole class of bloggers who are reported to be at least 40,000 strong...
"Blogs have indeed revolutionised the dissemination of information, particularly in times of crises such as the tsunami of 2004 and the recent Mumbai blasts. They have given ordinary people a voice that carries far. But to collectively view them as a threat to civil order appears to be a gross exaggeration."
Deccan Herald, in its editorial, Bloggers Win, says:
"Despite the removal of the blocks, bloggers still plan to go ahead with their PILs questioning the right of the government to block freedom of speech in the first place...
"Blogging in the cyber world serves as an expression of free will and commercial enterprise and it is this freedom that the government tried to curb. In a democracy this amounted to impinging on the constitutional right of freedom of expression. Censorship in any form in a democracy is abhorrent and condemnable and should never be attempted again."
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