Internet shutdowns in India

Why in news?

India topped the world with the highest number of internet shutdowns by government authorities, according to a report by Delhi-based Software Freedom Law Centre(SLFS).

What does the report say?

• Internet shutdown is defined as “disablement of access to internet as a whole within one or more localities for any duration of time”.
• There have been 233 reported instances of suspension of internet services in India in the last seven years.
• However, 73% of these shutdowns have happened only in the last year and a half.
• Internet shutdowns go against the human rights of citizens and should call for further questioning on their purpose in the interest of transparency.
• The researchers also say that centre issues 7000-8000 orders for phone tapping per month in India.
• Also, an US based think tank released the 'Freedom on the Net' report which offers a bleak perspective on the state of internet freedom across the world.
• Out of the 65 countries assessed, 26 countries are said to have experienced a deterioration and almost half of all declines were related to elections.

What are the consequences of Internet shutdowns?

• There may have been even more shutdowns than reported since many states refuse to respond to RTI (Right to Information) applications asking for details of shutdowns.
• These can last anywhere from a day to 72 hours, or even longer than that.
• Every shutdown negates the official policy thrust of promoting greater digitisation by removing the channel for digital communication.
• In states such as Jammu & Kashmir and Manipur, multiple shutdowns make normal online activities almost impossible.
• Quite apart from the disturbing impact on freedom of expression, shutdowns impose huge costs as well.
• The Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (Icrier) estimates that there were 16,315 hours of internet shutdowns between 2012 and 2017, costing an equivalent of $3.04 billion.
• The costs in 2018 alone would have been of the same order, or higher, given both an increase in shutdowns and the increasing volume of online business.

What are the concerns?

• Local governments use the Temporary Suspension of Telecom Services Rules (Public Safety or Public Emergency), which were introduced in August 2017 to order a suspension of internet services.
• In the past, Section 144 of the Indian Penal Code was used for the same purpose.
• This section allows the authorities to lay down guidelines to impose temporary measures to maintain public tranquility.
• Reports suggest shutdowns are often imposed by low-ranking officials, and then retrospectively cleared at higher levels.
• Moreover, news of a shutdown is rarely disseminated directly to the public, which learns about it the hard way.
• This draconian measure seems to have become a default option during election periods, public protests or during the periods of communal tension.
• These are usually related to apprehensions that social media channels such as WhatsApp may be used to instigate mob violence or to coordinate some act of public protest.
• But shutdowns have been ordered for all sorts of other reasons.
• For example, a shutdown was ordered to prevent cheating in police recruitment exams in Rajasthan and many others were ordered in Maharashtra to “prevent rumour-mongering”.
• Thus, India was critiqued for its internet shutdowns as “collective punishment” it imposes on its own people.
• This is undoubtedly true since every shutdown inconveniences millions of ordinary citizens and causes large, quantifiable losses.

What should be done?

• Resorting to this measure represents a failure of policing in the country.
• However, in states such as Telangana, the local administration has been unwilling to resort to this measure.
• Hence, the police have developed more effective methods of interacting with local communities and gathering intelligence to scotch the spread of inflammatory fake news.
• Thus, instead of using a blunt instrument such as a complete shutdown, the law and order machinery across the country must find less damaging ways of dealing with increasingly connected populations.
• Otherwise, the country could see an increasing number of shutdowns, which would run counter to the policy of encouraging digitisation. 

Source: Business Standard