Delhi stifles dissent, shuts down web
60 million people blocked from access
NEW DELHI: As the government of India pushes increasingly provocative policies, it is stifling dissent by shutting down the internet.
India tops the world in the number of internet shutdowns imposed by local, state and national governments. Last year, internet service was cut in India 134 times, and so far this year, 93 shutdowns have occurred, according to SFLC.in, which relies on reports from journalists, advocacy groups and citizens.
The country’s closest competitor is Pakistan, which had 12 shutdowns last year. Syria and Turkey — countries not especially known for their democratic spirit — each shut down the internet just once in 2018.
“Any time there is a sign of disturbance, that is the first tool in the toolbox,” said Mishi Choudhary, founder of SFLC.in, a legal advocacy group in New Delhi that has tracked India’s internet shutdowns since 2012. “When maintenance of law and order is your priority, you are not thinking about free speech.”
Last week, citing a threat of violence and false rumors, authorities in the states of Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura in northeast India severed connectivity in response to protests against a new citizenship law that critics say would marginalise India’s 200 million Muslims. Much of West Bengal and parts of Uttar Pradesh, two of India’s most populous states, were also put under digital lockdown.
With the Kashmir region still languishing offline since August, at least 60 million people have been cut off — roughly the population of France.
These moves come as Prime Minister Narendra Modi tightens his grip on India. His critics say he is undermining India’s deeply rooted traditions of democracy and secularism, and steadily stamping out dissent.
With half a billion Indians online, authorities say they are simply trying to stop the spread of hateful and dangerous misinformation, which can move faster on Facebook, WhatsApp and other services than their ability to control it.
“A lot of hate and provocative stuff starts appearing on messaging services, particularly WhatsApp,” said Harmeet Singh, a senior police official in Assam, which borders Bangladesh and has been one of the hot spots of protests against the citizenship law.
But as the internet becomes more integral to all aspects of life, the shutdowns affect far more than protesters or those involved in politics.
In Kashmir, internet service was stopped on Aug 5, when Mr Modi’s government suddenly revoked the area’s autonomy, sent in thousands of troops and disabled all communication, stifling public dissent. The internet has now been off 135 days. Some people even take a short flight to the next state just to check their email.
“There is no work,” said Sheikh Ashiq Ahmad, president of the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce. He said thousands of entrepreneurs, especially those who make silk scarves and handicrafts, relied on social media to sell their products online.
“The dignity of these people has been taken away,” he said.
While many of India’s shutdowns have been intended to prevent the loss of life, some occurred for more mundane reasons, like to make it harder for students to cheat on exams.
The legality of India’s internet shutdowns has not been tested in court. All shutdowns are supposed to be authorised by top state or national officials. In practice, most are ordered by local authorities.
The effectiveness of these shutdowns isn’t clear. Research by Jan Rydzak, a scholar at Stanford University, suggests the information vacuum caused by a shutdown can actually encourage violent responses.