Blunt weapon: On Internet shutdowns.  

India should end Net access curbs, especially when imposed without good reason. 

The number of Internet shutdowns in India was slightly lower in 2024 than in 2023, according to the Software Freedom Law Center (SLFC), India’s annual report. A separate report by the web rights advocacy, Access Now, shows that India continues to lead globally in the number of government-ordered Internet shutdowns. The Union government has maintained that mobile Internet shutdown is an indispensable instrument in the toolkit to control law and order situations. Most of the Internet use in India is mobile. A closer examination of the shutdowns imposed even over the last year reveals some disturbing data: 41 of the 84 shutdowns in India in 2024 were imposed during protests, compared to the 23 that were imposed for communal clashes. Five were even issued for cheating during examinations. In situations on the brink of violence where rapidly spreading disinformation may swerve out of control of the authorities, there may be a case for considering restrictions on communications. But no shutdown is without a cost — the delayed information regarding violence can also impede fast response. The Supreme Court of India recognised this when it ruled, in Anuradha Bhasin vs Union of India, that each shutdown must meet the tests of necessity and proportionality. Internet shutdown impedes people’s livelihoods, access to medical care and education. It is a blunt weapon and the least the government could do is to measure its impact and use it sparingly. The government has been urged on preparing such an assessment for years, but no headway has been made here.

Even for those in favour of retaining shutdowns as a tool in the repertory of emergency policing, the process being followed is cause for alarm. Many a time, as Access Now and SFLC report, there is no valid order uploaded on government websites detailing the duration and the causes in detail, as required by the Telecommunications (Temporary Suspension of Services) Rules, 2024 and its preceding rules of 2017. Ideally, every shutdown should be followed by a sombre examination of whether it was necessary and what its deployment cost was. The ideal number of Internet shutdowns in any country is zero. It is especially troubling that 296 of them were imposed on millions around the world last year. India’s case shows that there is an urgent need for circumspection and restraint. The Internet shutdowns index is, after all, one of the indices in which India should not aspire to lead