India enforced most internet curbs: Report
NEW DELHI: India blocked or disrupted internet access 106 times in 2021, making it the world’s largest offender for the fourth straight year, a report released by tech policy think tank Access Now showed.
Of the 106 shutdowns that were imposed for reasons such as curbing protests or preventing online frauds, 85 were witnessed in Jammu & Kashmir alone, the report added.
“In 2021, authorities deliberately shut down the internet at least 182 times across 34 countries. India is the world’s largest offender, and blacked out the internet at least 106 times,” the report said.
The figure for last year, however, was lower than 2020 which saw 109 of the 155 shutdowns across the globe.
The Union territory of Jammu & Kashmir witnessed maximum shutdowns where authorities impose intentional disruptions that last for extended periods, the report said.
The country has seen an increase in frequency of internet shutdowns, usually for law and order, or security considerations as requested by the home secretary of the state or the central government.
“The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology released a report highlighting the misuse of internet shutdowns, and the impact on rights and freedoms. However, it does not altogether condemn their use, and fails to state one of the most important facts of internet shutdowns: they can never be justified,” the report said.
India is among at least 18 countries that imposed internet shutdowns during various protests, the report said. “India is also among at least 18 governments that imposed mobile internet shutdowns during protests, including in a clear attempt to suppress the largescale farmers’ protests. India also shut down the internet at least four times to stop students from cheating on exams,” it said.
Amid the farmers’ protests in January last year against the now-repealed three agricultural laws, the ministry of home affairs had ordered temporary suspension of internet services at the protest sites in the capital’s border areas to “maintain public safety and avert emergency”.
After India, Myanmar imposed a total of 15 shutdowns while Sudan and Iran disrupted connectivity five times each, the report said.
A total of 129 internet shutdowns were imposed in seven countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
These are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Myanmar and Pakistan.
According to a report released by Top10VPN, a global digital privacy and research group, internet shutdowns cost India $2.8 billion, putting the South Asian nation at the top of the list of 21 countries that curbed citizens’ web access in 2020.
“India, the second-worst-hit nation by the Covid-19 pandemic in terms of overall confirmed infections, accounted for about three-quarters of the $4 billion lost worldwide due to internet curbs. Its losses more than doubled compared to 2019, a report from a UK-based digital privacy and security research group showed,” Bloomberg reported last year.
THE FIGURE FOR LAST YEAR, HOWEVER, WAS LOWER THAN 2020 WHICH SAW 109 OF THE 155 SHUTDOWNS ACROSS THE GLOBE