Do sanctions work?

New Delhi: In the web-linked era of data analytics, it is possible to test whether a restriction wins an audience for content accessible to one. India kept Salman Rushdie’s 1988 novel The Satanic Verses off domestic book shelves. As it was seen as sufficiently scandalous to harm the national interest, few people had access to it until the advent of the Internet. Now that video clips regularly go viral online, the likelihood of the ban failing has clearly shifted. To what extent though, is a matter of debate. With the interest of the nation at stake again, this time because of a BBC show, the Center has exercised control over digital intermediaries acquired under the IT Rules of 2021 to keep it out of sight. The case could test the hypothesis that trying to control the Internet is “like trying to nail Jello to a wall”, as former US President Bill Clinton memorably put it at the turn of the millennium. It was time to laugh. He had wished China “good luck”, which Beijing has since taken literally. What about a constitutional democracy like India? Due process is key. Still, whether the content can be effectively banned to limit its online reach is unclear.