A Code for Bloggers?

A fast update on today’s news from India. The Herald Tribune is quoting an official as saying it was “a technological error” that would be repaired soon.

In an e-mail sent early Thursday, an official at the Consulate General of India in New York said that the order to block a handful of Web sites, including the popular blogspot.com, which hosts thousands of personal Web logs, had been prompted by the discovery of a Web site that contained “two impertinent pages” rife with material containing “extremely derogatory references to Islam.”

In an effort to stave off sectarian violence, said the official, who was not authorized to speak to the press, India’s Department of Telecommunications instructed Internet service providers to block access to the two pages. “Because of a technological error, the Internet providers went beyond what was expected of them, which in turn resulted in the unfortunate blocking of all blogs,” the official said.

Secondly, the Indian blogosphere is abuzz with talk of whether a Bloggers’ Code of Conduct would be a good idea.

The first official statement was released today.

Finally the New York based Committee to Protect Journalists has written an open letter to Dr. Manmohan Singh.

The Committee to Protect Journalists is troubled by the Indian government’s recent order to ban certain Web sites—an action that resulted in blocked access to domains hosting many thousands of Web logs. In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, CPJ expressed concerned that the order was imposed without apparent judicial review or official explanation. The ban, CPJ said, should be lifted.