分类： politics

India’s federal Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has tabled controversial amendments to the country’s digital governance framework that would extend government oversight of news and current affairs content far beyond traditional registered publishers to include independent influencers, podcasters, and ordinary social media users on platforms including Facebook, YouTube, and X. The proposal, which has already triggered sharp backlash from digital rights advocates and independent content creators, would require major social media platforms to adhere to the same code of ethics currently mandated for formal news outlets when hosting news-related content from non-publisher users. To retain their safe harbour protection — the legal immunity that shields platforms from liability for content posted by third-party users — platforms would be required to strictly comply with all government takedown and content removal orders under the new rules.

The government frames the amendments as a necessary update to outdated digital regulation. Officials argue that as news and current affairs content is now widely shared by non-journalist users, a unified regulatory framework is needed to curb the spread of harmful content including disinformation, hate speech, and manipulated deepfake media. MeitY has opened a public comment period on the proposal, with feedback set to close on April 14. MeitY Secretary S Krishnan has defended the plan, emphasizing that the new guidelines align with India’s existing constitution and legal structure, and that evolving content sharing practices demand updated rules.

Critics, however, warn the changes amount to a dramatic expansion of state power over online speech that will enable widespread censorship targeting political dissent. Digital rights activists point to a steady pattern of incremental regulatory changes stretching back to 2021 that have steadily eroded online free speech protections while expanding government control. A 2021 amendment first brought formal digital news outlets under government oversight, while a 2025 revision strengthened the federal Home Ministry’s Sahyog portal, a centralized platform that allows multiple state agencies to issue takedown notices to social media platforms with minimal transparency and few procedural safeguards for affected users. Early 2026 brought another change that cut the compliance window for platforms to execute government blocking orders from 36 hours to just three — a reduction that eliminates virtually all time for legal review before content is removed.

Widespread concern that the rules will be used to target government critics gained fresh traction after a high-profile blocking incident in March. Acting on orders issued under Section 69A of India’s existing IT Act, X blocked roughly a dozen accounts, most of which hosted satirical or critical content about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Among those affected was Kumar Nayan, whose satirical X account @Nehr_who? boasted more than 242,000 followers. Nayan told the BBC he received no prior warning or explanation when his account was blocked, and while a court order restored his account this week, 10 of his posts critical of Modi and the BJP remain blocked in India pending review by a government-appointed panel. All 10 posts are either satirical commentary or political criticism, none of which meet the official criteria for restricted content that threatens national security or communal harmony, Nayan argues. Challenging the blocking in court forced Nayan to reveal his public identity, forcing him to relocate over safety concerns and robbing him of the anonymity that protected him and other critics from harassment.

Sandeep Singh, an activist whose 100,000-follower X account @ActivistSandeep was also blocked in March, has not yet regained access. Singh began posting critical content after concluding mainstream Indian media was disproportionately biased in favour of the BJP. “I stand for the truth and blocking my accounts or posts will not stop me from continuing speaking truth to power,” Singh told the BBC.

Prominent independent creator Akash Banerjee, whose political commentary YouTube channel The Deshbhakt counts more than 6 million subscribers, warned the new rules will create a pervasive climate of self-censorship that will silence independent political discourse. Banerjee notes that despite India already having a raft of laws governing online content, levels of hate speech and disinformation have not declined — but critical content, even satirical criticism of the government, is increasingly targeted for removal. Digital rights activist Nikhil Pahwa, who co-authored an analysis of the regulatory changes for the *Times of India*, argues the proposed amendments only reinforce what is already a fully built “infrastructure for mass censorship” in India. Platforms typically comply with government orders quickly to protect their access to India’s large market, while affected users are left without notice, explanation, or any meaningful avenue to appeal, he explained.

A recent U.S. government report has echoed these concerns, noting that since 2021, American social media companies have seen a steady rise in takedown requests for content and accounts that appear to be politically motivated. Even when users are able to challenge blocking orders in court, Nayan points out, most ordinary users lack the resources or willingness to go through the lengthy legal process to recover their content. “In a democracy, people should have the liberty to post what they want, with certain limitations of course, without fear. India is a democracy, so why has it become so difficult to do so?” Nayan asked. The BBC has submitted a list of questions to MeitY for comment on the specific blocking incidents, and the ministry has yet to issue a formal response beyond its broader defense of the new regulatory framework.

Amid a still-fragile temporary ceasefire between the United States and Iran, Beijing is carefully calibrating its next diplomatic moves to help forge a durable resolution to the spiraling Middle East conflict, according to senior diplomatic sources and global policy analysts.

U.S. President Donald Trump told Agence France-Presse earlier this week that he credits China’s behind-the-scenes influence with pushing Iran to accept the temporary truce that has halted open hostilities this week. Three anonymous diplomats familiar with Beijing’s private negotiations confirmed the assessment, noting that as the world’s largest buyer of Iranian crude and a nation far more dependent on Persian Gulf energy supplies than the U.S., China holds significant economic leverage over Tehran that it deployed to urge Iranian leadership back to the negotiating table. Prior to this direct diplomatic push, Beijing had already publicly decried U.S. and Israeli military operations against its key economic partner Iran as misadvised. Formal talks between the conflicting parties are scheduled to kick off this coming weekend in Pakistan, which took the lead in brokering the two-week ceasefire.

The current precarious truce leaves China at a diplomatic crossroads, as its leadership weighs the costs and benefits of deeper engagement in Middle East peacemaking against its core domestic and global priorities. A prolonged full-scale war in the region runs directly counter to Beijing’s core economic interests, but successful mediation could also elevate China’s global standing and grant it valuable leverage ahead of Trump’s state visit to Beijing next month, a meeting that was delayed from its original schedule to allow Trump to oversee U.S. military strikes on Iran.

China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning confirmed to reporters this week that Beijing has “worked actively to help bring about an end to the conflict.” The country has already felt tangible economic pressure from Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz — the critical shipping chokepoint through which roughly 20% of the world’s global crude oil supplies pass. The blockade has sent shockwaves across Asian energy markets, a key factor that pushed Beijing to work with Pakistan to facilitate the current ceasefire agreement.

Despite its role in securing the temporary truce, China has shown no appetite to offer the long-term security guarantee for Iran that Tehran has repeatedly requested as a core condition for any permanent peace deal, meant to deter future U.S. and Israeli strikes. Iran’s ambassador to China recently suggested that Tehran would look to China, Russia and the United Nations to jointly provide such a guarantee, a demand that Beijing has not publicly committed to. When pressed for comment on the proposal, Mao only reaffirmed that China “hopes that all parties will resolve their disputes through dialogue and negotiation.”

Chinese leadership is acutely aware that an extended conflict would severely damage its domestic economic agenda, which is already facing headwinds from a slumping domestic property sector and global uncertainty. Earlier this year, Premier Li Qiang set a modest 2024 growth target of 4.5% to 5% — the lowest official growth projection China has released since 1991. One anonymous diplomat familiar with China’s internal deliberations on the conflict confirmed that Beijing’s top priority remains “growth and development,” and a prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz undermines that goal on two fronts: it restricts critical crude imports to fuel China’s industrial economy, and blocks a key shipping route for Chinese exports bound for Middle Eastern markets.

The developing Iran diplomacy is already shaping expectations for the high-profile upcoming Trump-Xi summit in Beijing. Experts note that Trump will almost certainly echo Beijing’s own concerns about the impact of continued conflict on energy markets and economic stability when he meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Ali Wyne, senior research and advocacy adviser for U.S.-China relations at the International Crisis Group, argues that the temporary ceasefire already marks a subtle win for Beijing’s diplomatic framing. “That the United States and Iran have at least temporarily edged away from the precipice of a catastrophic escalation owes in part to China’s support for the ceasefire that Pakistan brokered,” Wyne said. “Even if short-lived, that breakthrough affords Beijing another opportunity to present itself as a stabilizing force and Washington as a reckless one.”

China’s approach to the conflict is also shaped by deep-rooted strategic skepticism of U.S. intentions in the region, diplomatic sources say. Many in Beijing view Trump’s decision to launch military operations against Iran, as well as the earlier January incursion to capture former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, as at least partially driven by a broader strategy to contain Chinese global influence. Beijing has long been a major oil customer and investor in Venezuela’s energy sector, giving it direct exposure to U.S. actions in the Western Hemisphere.

Privately, Chinese officials have made clear that both the U.S. and Iran will need to make substantive concessions for a permanent peace deal to take hold. Beijing is also pushing for the U.S. to roll back existing sanctions on Chinese companies that maintain commercial ties with Iran as a core condition of its continued participation in mediation, according to diplomatic sources. The current context already grants Xi significant leverage ahead of the summit. “Trump was in a crisis, and China helped,” said Sun Yun, director of the China program at the Washington-based Stimson Center think tank. “The optics of that alone helps to lighten the mood and sweeten the pot.”

Danny Russel, a former senior U.S. diplomat under the Obama administration, noted that Beijing perceives Trump as weakened after he backed away from earlier threats to destroy Iranian power plants and critical infrastructure if Iran did not end its Hormuz blockade. The hashtag #HeChickenedOut trended on Chinese social media in discussions of the outcome, and China’s state-run media has pushed a narrative that Trump backed down in the face of Iranian resistance, Russel added.

For his part, Xi has approached the moment with deliberate caution. Russel summed up Beijing’s current strategic calculation: “wait-and-see, safeguard Chinese energy and commercial interests, avoid direct confrontation with the United States, stay on good terms with its important Gulf partners like Saudi Arabia and UAE, and work with whoever ends up running Iran when the dust settles.”

Former senior Trump White House adviser Steve Bannon argued in an episode of his “War Room” podcast this week that any durable peace deal will require Chinese buy-in. “Who can actually make a deal and enforce a deal? I know one group of people who can do it, and they live in Beijing,” Bannon said. “Let’s just go to Beijing and sit down with a guy who can actually make a deal — Xi — and enforce a deal.”

Amid ongoing cross-Strait people-to-people ties, the chairwoman of the Chinese Kuomintang (KMT), Cheng Li-wun, has publicly advocated for lowering barriers and deepening exchange opportunities for young people from both sides of the Taiwan Strait. The call came during a Shanghai-Taiwan youth cultural exchange activity held at a riverside book garden along Yangpu Riverside in Shanghai, in a gathering that brought together young creators and cultural enthusiasts from both regions.

In her remarks to participating young people who have built lives and careers on the Chinese mainland, Cheng emphasized the energy and potential of cross-Strait youth engagement. “Seeing that you are living a vibrant life in the Chinese mainland, I think that’s so great,” Cheng said. “If cross-Strait exchanges could be more open, with fewer barriers, I believe young people’s creativity can find like-minded partners and shine on a bigger stage.”

The event marks part of Cheng’s working visit to Shanghai, which also included a stop at the headquarters of Chinese tech giant Meituan, highlighting the KMT’s focus on both youth cultural exchange and cross-Strait industry collaboration. The proposal for enhanced youth exchange aligns with long-standing calls from communities on both sides of the Strait to expand people-to-people connections, particularly among younger generations who will shape the future of cross-Strait relations. Proponents of expanded exchanges argue that greater interaction fosters mutual understanding, breaks down stereotypes, and creates new collaborative opportunities in culture, innovation, business and other fields that benefit young people across both sides.

On Wednesday, Cheng Li-wun, Chairwoman of the Chinese Kuomintang (KMT), led a cross-party delegation on an official visit to the global headquarters of leading Chinese local lifestyle service platform Meituan in Shanghai, where the delegation got a first-hand look at the company’s cutting-edge drone delivery operations and core business strategies.

During the visit, Cheng emphasized that the trip offered a rare, valuable opportunity to observe end-to-end on-ground operational processes, examine the internal policy frameworks that drive the company’s growth, and gain front-line perspective on the industry’s forward-looking strategic planning for future development. The on-site experience of Meituan’s autonomous drone delivery service, a breakthrough innovation in last-mile logistics that has reshaped urban consumer access to goods, gave the KMT delegation direct insight into the pace of digital innovation unfolding on the Chinese mainland.

This visit comes as part of a broader series of cross-Strait exchanges focused on opening dialogue across multiple sectors, with the Meituan stop designed to deepen KMT leadership’s understanding of the mainland’s thriving digital economy and private sector innovation. The engagement reflects growing momentum for people-to-people and industry-focused exchanges between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, creating space for shared understanding of emerging economic and technological trends.

Beijing has become the focal point of global military diplomacy this week, as China’s Ministry of National Defense convened its fourth annual international security cooperation seminar, bringing together senior defense stakeholders from across the world. The two-day gathering, held from Thursday to Friday at the International College of Defense Studies under the People’s Liberation Army National Defense University, drew attendance from foreign military attachés accredited to China and senior representatives from regional offices of major international organizations, ministry spokesperson Zhang Xiaogang confirmed during an online press briefing on the opening day of the event.

To foster open dialogue and knowledge sharing, organizers invited a cohort of senior officials and subject matter experts from both Chinese civilian agencies and military institutions to deliver targeted keynote presentations centered on evolving global security dynamics. Following the formal addresses, participants engaged in extensive working discussions focused on identifying actionable pathways to expand collaborative military security initiatives between China and the international community. As a complement to policy-focused discussions, the seminar also included a structured site visit to a leading Chinese civilian internet technology company, giving international attendees a first-hand look at China’s civilian digital innovation ecosystem.

Zhang emphasized that the core objectives of the recurring seminar extend far beyond theoretical dialogue. By creating an open, informal space for direct engagement between international defense representatives and Chinese stakeholders, the event is designed to break down misperceptions, build foundational mutual trust, deepen cross-border personal and professional friendships, and lay the groundwork for concrete, substantive security cooperation projects in the months ahead. As a long-standing platform for track-one military diplomacy, the seminar continues to serve as a key venue for advancing open, inclusive security cooperation in line with global efforts to address shared transnational security challenges.