Internet shutdowns can’t be a default response
The government should be judicious in using the tool only in the rarest of cases
The Indian economy lost nearly $3 billion (₹19,500 crore) owing to more than 16,000 hours of Internet shutdowns in the past five years, a report by the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) released this week said. The ICRIER report defines an internet blackout as an intentional disruption of Internet or electronic communications, rendering them effectively unusable for a specific population, often to exert flow over communication. In the last few years, instances that have invited criticism include a shutdown in Jammu and Kashmir after the killing of Burhaan Wani, the suspension of Internet services in three districts of Madhya Pradesh after the police opened fire during a farmers’ protest at Mandsaur and a similar breakdown in West Bengal after widespread violence in the North 24 Parganas district in the wake of an allegedly offensive Facebook post. A government notification in August 2017 invoked the Telegraph Act to put in place rules that allow the government to temporarily shut down internet services for “public safety.
The growing frequency of Internet shutdowns means the State is using them as a routine tool to tide over law and order breakdowns. Apart from the enormous costs to the economy, routine shutdowns are not particularly effective, since people find other ways to communicate. Also, such censorship can even lead to more violence since the information gap can spark uncertainty and panic. The bigger question is: Can Internet shutdowns lead to erosion of democratic values? In times when many of the fundamental rights guaranteed by our Constitution, such as the freedoms of speech, association and the trade, are exercised on the Web, does the State have the right to shut the Internet down?
Even if one argues that the State can place reasonable restrictions on fundamental rights, it should be judicious in using this tool only in the rarest cases, rather than as a default response.