In terms of imposing internet bans, India has topped the list globally for the fifth straight year. Internet freedom relies on how freely people access websites and social media platforms. Functionality, affordability, and speed are also considered while measuring internet freedom.
Key highlights
- Around 60% of all internet blackouts took place between 2016 and 2022 in India.
- The government has imposed 780 shutdowns in the last ten years.
- The incidences of internet shutdowns were the highest during 1018 and 2020, particularly during the protests against the Citizen Amendment Act in 2019, the abolition of Article 370 in 2019, and the introduction of controversial Farm Bills in 2021.
- In 2023, India witnessed over 7,000 hours of internet shutdown, which affected around 6 crore people.
- The economy suffered a loss of over $5.45 billion between 2019 and 2023 due to the internet bans.
- The internet closures in the country were responsible for more than 70% of the total loss to the global economy in 2020.
- Jammu and Kashmir suffered the highest number of shutdowns in the last 12 years, with 433 closures.
- In 2023, Manipur suffered the longest internet shutdown, from May to December.
- Over 30,000 social media accounts or posts were blocked or deleted between 2018 and 2022.
- Most of the content censorship was done under Section 69A of the IT Act.
- The common reasons cited for such actions were preventing hate speeches and misinformation, anti-national activities, national security, cyberattacks, and curbing objectionable content from circulation.
Internet shutdowns
- The government can impose a ban on the internet, by controlling its speed for a specific location or population.
- As per the Indian Telegraph Act, state governments and Union Territories have the power to impose internet bans but only in cases of public emergency or in the interest of public safety.
- Under international law, any ban on the internet that violates the fundament rights of people should be imposed only by following the law. And, it should be ensured that the action pursues a legitimate aim.
Anuradha Bhasin v. Union of India case
- In its landmark judgement, the Supreme Court reiterated that internet bans violate fundamental rights to freedom of expression granted by the Indian Constitution.
- The Court also said that bans imposed for an indefinite period are unconstitutional.
- The judiciary has also directed governments to always make ban orders public.
