Blunt weapon: Internet shutdown

Number of internet shutdowns in India It was slightly less in 2024 Compared to 2023According to the Software Freedom Law Center (SLFC), India’s annual report. A separate report by web rights Advockey, Access Now suggests that the number of Internet shutdowns ordered by the Government of India continues to lead globally. The central government has said that mobile internet shutdown is an indispensable means in toolkit to control law and order situations. Most of the internet use in India is mobile. Some disturbing data from a close examination of shutdown in last year also shows some disturbing data: 41 out of 84 shutdowns in India in 2024 were deployed during protests, compared to 23 which were set up for communal clashes. Were. Five were also released to cheat during the examinations. Conditions on the verge of violence where the rapid spreading dissolution may be out of the control of the authorities, may be a case to consider restrictions on communication. But no shutdown is without cost – delayed information about violence can also disrupt rapid response. The Supreme Court of India had recognized that when it ruled in the Union vs Union of the Union of India, each shutdown should fulfill the need and proportional tests. The Internet shutdown disrupts people’s livelihood, medical care and access to education. It is a blunt weapon and at least the government can measure its effect and use it with restraint. The government has been urged to prepare for such assessment for years, but no headway has been built here.

Even for those who are in favor of maintaining shutdowns as a tool in emergency policing demonstrations, the process being followed is the cause of the alarm. Many times, as Access Nau and SFLC reports, no valid orders have been uploaded on government websites, which detail the duration and reasons, as telecommunications (temporary suspension of services) rules, 2024 and 2017 It is essential by its predecessor rules. Ideally, every shutdown should be followed whether it was necessary and what was its deployment cost. The ideal number of internet shutdown in any country is zero. It is particularly upset that 296 of them were imposed on millions of people around the world last year. The case of India shows that perimeter and restraint are immediately needed. The Internet Shutdown Index, after all, is one of the indices in which India should not wish to lead.