In a country with 460 million internet users, shutting down the internet is definitely not the way to control sensitive situations. Fifty-Five shutdowns this year alone, is this the digital India?

Public disputes and political strife are but natural in a closely knit society. From time to time, people exercise their right to freedom of speech and expression in all sorts of ways to voice their opinion. Sometimes, it is aimed for the collective good, other times it is nothing but a ruckus caused by a misled mob. Whatever may be the purpose, it must be addressed with an appropriate response.

In India, the government is trying to handle the situations of public unrest by shutting down internet access. A strategy which is not a clever solution in the first place, and is being overused, in the second. There have been situations where an internet shutdown was nothing but inevitable, and we are thankful for the positive developments made through it. However, the tactic doesn’t qualify as a peace-bringer and we need to do something about it.

Look At The Numbers Yourself

India ranks number two on the list of nations with the most number of internet users in the world which is reportedly more than 460 million as of January 2017.

More than 90% of these 460 million users access the internet using their mobile smartphones or other handheld devices.

India has seen 114 incidents of blocked internet access since 2012 as reported by the SFLC’s Internet Shutdown Tracker. The state of Jammu and Kashmir has been the worst hit with 53 shutdowns followed by Rajasthan, which has seen 14 shutdowns so far.

The most shocking part of the story is that in 16 of the reported 114 incidents, the internet was inaccessible for more than 72 hours at a stretch.

India also topped the list of countries with biggest economic losses due to temporary internet disruptions totaling to $968 million between 2015 and 2016, whereas the global loss in GDP was $2.4 billion. (Darrel M. West – Brookings)

How Legal is it To Shut Down the Internet In India?

Most of the shutdowns that have occurred till date have been imposed under Section 144 Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) which empowers the state governments to take immediate action whenever there is a foreseeable danger to public safety and peace.

The IT Act amendment 2009 also allows for the same. Quoting the source, “Sections 69 and 69A of the amended Act empower the state to issue directions for interception, monitoring, decryption of any information through any computer resource; and for blocking websites in the interest of national security, and friendly relations with foreign states.”



Interestingly, this amendment hasn’t been used as a ground for internet shutdowns and was refuted by Gujarat govt. in the case of Guarav Sureshbhai Vyas v. State of Gujarat (W.P. (PIL) No. 191 of 2015) when the question was raised on the usage of Section 144 of CrPC for internet shutdown and not Section 69A of the IT Act.

How it’s Like to Live Through an Internet Blackout?

“Helplessness coupled with futility”. That’s how I would like to describe the three and a half days of no internet during the Dera Sacha Sauda Case last month, here in Punjab. I had just moved to a new address in Zirakpur and was relying only on my JioFi wireless for most of my internet activities. There was a huge uproar in the streets in the precursor of the court verdict of rape convict Gurmeet Ram Rahim.

Before Gurmeet Ram Rahim’s verdict, Dera Sacha Sauda gave Rs 5 crore to fuel violence in Panchkulahttps://t.co/qXZdVx8Q6c — Zee News (@ZeeNews) September 7, 2017

It was unsafe to step out of the house, especially in the neighboring Panchkula region which was the epicenter of the curfew. My daily routine pretty much came to a standstill as I struggled to get my internet-based tasks done. No emails, no content to study, no social media and no knowledge of the world. You could only watch the bloated headlines on the TV with loudmouth news commentators and feel more depressed with your life.

As I was new in the locality, it was uneasy to ask people who had fixed lines connections (those were still working) for their WiFi passwords because well, my daily data consumption need could hurt anybody.

All I did during those three slow days was read old novels, call plenty of dear ones and play Chess on my PC. I still remember I had to reply to 103 emails when the internet finally came through and you can obtain a fair idea how unfair this whole shutdown strategy was.

My losses were nothing compared to the local businesses that completely or significantly rely on internet. Quoting the Gujarat ban again, the local e-commerce start-ups and e-delivery vendors faced tremendous difficulties in continuing their work. Local rental Cab businesses were halted, affecting hundreds of cab drivers in the region, food ordering services, data management services, everything was disrupted.

There Might Be Even More Shutdowns

Recently, The Communication Ministry has laid down much clearer rules as in what circumstances and under whose authority, the suspension of the internet can take place. Though this is a positive step after the last reckless shutdowns, it also tells us that the government doesn’t plan on giving up on this avoidable tactic.

Quoting from an article by Hindustan Times,

In Gujarat, the government once suspended the internet because it didn’t want people to cheat (in an exam)

The co-founder of Internet Freedom Foundation Nikhil Pahwa spoke about the arbitrary nature of the recent internet shutdowns.

What Can You Do About It?

You can well imagine how frustrating the unavailability of internet can be. The modern lifestyle has been developed around the internet and it is nearly impossible to go through a day without using it whether at the office or at home. We well understand the demands of emergency situations wherein urgent measures have to be taken for everyone’s safety but it is hard to digest the fact that a right as basic as internet access is being taken away to restore peace.

And it’s not happening at a rate you could call seldom; fifty-five times in a year is a big deal, especially when we’re just in the middle of the ninth month. The irony is that such things are happening in a country whose honorable Prime Minister wants to digitalize it so much.

Hon’ble Prime Minister of India : Stop Internet Shutdowns – Sign the Petition! https://t.co/URN7fz8yjO via @ChangeOrg_India — Shujaat Bukhari (@bukharishujaat) February 16, 2017

If the idea of barring internet access seems equally unfair to you, you can sign the petition by Ditty Mathews that aims at curbing these alarmingly frequent internet blackouts. More information on every recorded shutdown can also be obtained from https://internetshutdowns.in/



You can also follow the #KeepItOn campaign launched by Accessnow.org which is an open appeal to the world’s government to put a leash on internet shutdowns worldwide.

We at Ionizer, opine against internet shutdowns and have reflected the same in this article, readers’ opinions may differ from ours. We don’t intend to condemn the alternative viewpoints and welcome all sorts of perspectives on this issue.