According to a report by an internet advocacy watchdog Access Now, India imposed by far the highest number of internet shutdowns in the world in 2022 and it topped the internet-shutdowns list for the fifth successive year.
Key points
- Out of 187 internet shutdowns globally recorded by Access Now, 84 took place in India. Access Now is the New York-based digital rights advocacy group.
- Indian Authorities disrupted internet access at least 49 times in Kashmir due to political instability and violence, says the new report.
- Although India once again led the world in internet shutdowns, 2022 marked the first time since 2017 that there were fewer than 100 shutdowns in the country.
What are internet shutdowns?
- Shutdowns can mean a complete block on Internet connectivity but governments also increasingly resort to banning access to major communication platforms and throttling bandwidth and limiting mobile services to 2G transfer speeds, making it hard, for example, to share and watch videos or live picture broadcasts.
Internet shutdown rules in India
- The Ministry of Communications had replied in the Parliament that The Review Committee in states, chaired by the Chief Secretary (the senior-most civil servant in a state) is mandated through the Temporary Suspension of Telecom Services (Public Emergency or Public Safety) Rules, 2017, to decide that the shutdowns have been made as per rules.
- The rules framed by the central government say temporary suspensions can be “due to public emergency or public safety”, and give senior bureaucrats from the Home Ministry at the central and state levels the power to order shutdowns.
- In light of the Supreme Court judgment dated 10th January 2020, Temporary Suspension of Telecom Services (Public Emergency & Public Safety) Rules, 2017 has been amended in 2020.
- The Supreme Court has mandated the publication of suspension orders; and all orders for suspension of Telecom Services must adhere to the principle of proportionality and must not extend beyond the necessary duration.
