Research & Advocacy

DEF advocates for a robust data protection law

The Research and Advocacy department of DEF has sent its response to the Srikrishna Committee call for a Data Protection Framework for India. DEF’s recommendations highlight the need for a robust data protection law to protect, especially, the most vulnerable sections of the society. The response sent by DEF can be read here.

Kept in the Dark

DEF’s Research and Advocacy team in February released a research paper titled Kept in the Dark: The Social and Psychological Impacts of Network Shutdowns in India. It takes an in-depth look at how network shutdowns affect communities and threaten political stability. As the Internet becomes more pervasive to daily life, blocking access to the same disrupts residents’ ability to access information, education, financial and emergency services, employment opportunities and social activities, thus affecting the psychological health of residents.

Documenting Darjeeling’s woes

Continuing its study into internet shutdowns and their impact on people, DEF in April visited Darjeeling and Kalimpong, the region which experienced the longest internet shutdown in India – over 100 days in 2017—during the region-wide strike due to political unrest. DEF collected narratives from those most affected by the shutdown – students, small business owners, funded NGOs, and the media.

Connecting gram panchayats through digitisation

DEF’s Research & Advocacy team presented their paper at the India Consensus on ‘digitisation’ to the Eminent Panel comprised of Nobel laureate Finn Kydland, Vinita Bali, Nisha Agarwal and Prof. S. Mahendra Dev. The paper dealt with a cost benefit analysis of connecting gram panchayats with national optic fiber network in Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh.

Street play to counter online abuse

DEF’s research team conducted a digital security workshop at Ashoka University to bring awareness about online safety. The workshop was conducted as part of Project WAAT (Women Act Against Trolls) with support from WebAware, an online safety initiative of OLX. DEF also conducted a street play with partner organization Krantikali in August which was a great success with massive gathering pouring in.

Community Network Champions take a Rural Dip in India

In the last 25 years, half the world has been connected to the Internet and the almost infinite opportunities it has to offer. Most of these, among the 3.5 billion connected individuals of the world, are people who are largely economically empowered, literate and reside in urban or accessible areas. However, there is also half the world that is yet to get online and access what the Internet has to offer them.