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Science & Tech., Index & Reports
Mahesh

02/03/23 09:27 AM IST

India tops list of global internet shut-offs: Report

In News
  • India enforced as many as 84 internet shutdowns last year and was on top of the list of nations that ordered internet shutdowns for the fifth year in a row, as per a report by Access Now and the KeepItOn coalition.
Major Highlights
  • The report titled ‘Weapons of control, shields of impunity: Internet shutdowns in 2022'.
  • In 2022, the Internet was shut down 49 times in Jammu and Kashmir, the highest of any state in the country, per the report.
  • Authorities in Rajasthan imposed shutdowns on 12 different occasions followed by West Bengal, which ordered shutdowns seven times.
  • At least 187 internet shutdowns across 35 countries were recorded in 2022.
  • Thirty-three of these 35 countries are repeat offenders.
  • Ukraine comes a distant second with 22 shutdowns in 2022, followed by Iran with 18, and with seven internet shutdowns, Myanmar stands fourth in the list.
  • People in many regions across Myanmar had been in the dark for 500+ days by March 2022.
  • By the end of 2022, people in Tigray, Ethiopia had endured 2+ years of full communications blackout, and many remained disconnected.
Internet Shutdown
  • Currently, internet shutdown orders are governed under the Temporary Suspension of Telecom Services (Public Emergency or Public Safety) Rules, 2017.
  • Internet shutdowns are a means to wipe out online communication, which directly impacts day to day functioning in an increasingly digital world, but they also have important and serious knock-on effects on democratic movements, and sometimes provide cover for violence, as reporting crime and making contact for support becomes hard to do.
  • The 1885 Act empowers the central government to regulate various types of telecom services including internet services and grant licenses for them.
  • In Anuradha Bhasin vs Union of India (2020), the Supreme Court ruled that an indefinite suspension of internet services would be illegal under Indian law and that orders for internet shutdown must satisfy the tests of necessity and proportionality.
Impact
  • Internet shutdowns carry major economic costs for all sectors, disrupting for example financial transactions, commerce and industry.
  • Economic shocks provoked by shutdowns are felt over long periods of time, greatly exacerbating pre-existing social and economic inequalities.
  • Shutdowns effectively deepen digital divides between and within countries.
  • When a state shuts down the internet, both people and economies suffer.
  • The costs to jobs, education, health and political participation virtually always exceed any hoped for benefit.
Source- Indian Express

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