Suspension of net services on House IT panel’s radar

THE PARLIAMENTARY PANEL ASKED THE DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS TO COME UP WITH A FRAMEWORK TO REVIEW THE SUSPENSION OF INTERNET SERVICES IN A PARTICULAR REGION

nNEW DELHI: The parliamentary panel on information technology (IT) on Tuesday asked the Department of Telecommunications (DOT) to develop a framework for reviewing suspension of internet services in a region, including the time within which this will be done.

The observations came in the backdrop of a high-speed internet shutdown that has been in place in the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir for over a year now, and on the day the Centre said that it would lift restrictions on high-speed 4G mobile internet services in one district each of Jammu and Kashmir divisions after August 15 on a trial basis.

The comments also come against the background of an increase in the number of Internet shutdowns in the country -usually for law and order, or security considerations. According to the Software Freedom Law Centre, 385 Internet shutdowns were recorded between January 2012 and March 15, 2020; 237 were observed to be preventive -restrictions were imposed in anticipation of law and order problems and 148 were reactive and imposed to contain ongoing breakdowns. Of these, nearly 100 incidents were recorded in 2019.

The decision to restrict access to Internet in J&K came in August last year after the Centre decided to strip the erstwhile state of its special status and divide it into two Union territories. The Centre has cited security grounds for blocking highspeed 4G Internet services.

It filed an affidavit before the

Supreme Court on July 21, that a panel constituted as per the latter’s May 11 order has decided against any relaxations for now.

According to MPS who attended in the meeting, the issue was discussed at length, including Supreme Court proceedings wherein the Centre said Internet services would be “gradually restored” after August 15.

Congress leader and panel chairperson Shashi Tharoor tweeted that the meeting lasted for over an hour. “The internet shutdown in J&K was on the agenda,” said an MP. A second MP present at the meeting asked, “How can one pick and choose which areas one can provide internet to?”

According to a third MP, the issue of whether DOT has the powers to do this was also discussed. All three MPS spoke on condition of anonymity.

Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra and Congress MP Shaktisinh Gohil both stressed the need for the government to follow the Supreme Court’s directives.