Indian bloggers are likely to get a reprieve as Indian ISPs reverse a blanket block of key blogging sites, according to an executive of an association of Indian ISPs.The ISP Association of India in Delhi has recommended to its members to remove the blanket blocks, and instead block only the 17 specific sites and blogs that the Indian government has ordered ISPs to block, said Deepak Maheshwari, secretary of the ISP Association of India in Delhi on Thursday. The association has only advisory powers and cannot instruct individual ISPs, he added.The Indian government’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT) notified ISPs on July 13 that they had to block 17 websites and blogs. SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe The notice did not specify the reason why they were to be blocked, but according to informed sources, the Indian government wanted to block these websites and blogs in India because of apprehensions that these were likely being used by terrorists to communicate with one another. Indian police are investigating bomb blasts earlier this month in trains in the city of Mumbai that killed about 200 and injured more than 700.Some ISPs overcautiously blocked entire domains such as Google’s www.blogspot.com rather than the sub-domains that they had been instructed to block, Maheshwari said. Indian bloggers were thus denied access to a large number of blogs on these and other domains, he added. The Indian government’s instruction to ISPs to block the 17 websites and blogs remains unchanged, Maheshwari said.Under India’s Information Technology Act 2000, websites can be blocked if they are found to be promoting hate, violence, terrorism, or pornography including child pornography. The blocking of the blogs led to an outcry among bloggers in India, who feared that the government was attempting to subvert freedom on the Internet.-John Ribeiro, IDG News Service (Bangalore Bureau)Related Link: India Blocks Websites, Blogs After Terror AttacksCheck out our CIO News Alerts and Tech Informer pages for more updated news coverage. Related content opinion The changing face of cybersecurity threats in 2023 Cybersecurity has always been a cat-and-mouse game, but the mice keep getting bigger and are becoming increasingly harder to hunt. By Dipti Parmar Sep 29, 2023 8 mins Cybercrime Security brandpost Should finance organizations bank on Generative AI? Finance and banking organizations are looking at generative AI to support employees and customers across a range of text and numerically-based use cases. By Jay Limbasiya, Global AI, Analytics, & Data Management Business Development, Unstructured Data Solutions, Dell Technologies Sep 29, 2023 5 mins Artificial Intelligence brandpost Embrace the Generative AI revolution: a guide to integrating Generative AI into your operations The CTO of SAP shares his experiences and learnings to provide actionable insights on navigating the GenAI revolution. By Juergen Mueller Sep 29, 2023 4 mins Artificial Intelligence feature 10 most in-demand generative AI skills Gen AI is booming, and companies are scrambling to fill skills gaps by hiring freelancers to make the most of the technology. These are the 10 most sought-after generative AI skills on the market right now. By Sarah K. White Sep 29, 2023 8 mins Hiring Generative AI IT Skills Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe