Internet shutdown is not a foreign word to Indians now. But with prime Minister Modi's grand plans for Digital India and a cashless economy, internet shutdowns are doing more harm than good. Brookings Institute estimates that India lost over $968 million between July 1, 2015 and July 30, 2016, all thanks to internet shutdown alone. But the world's largest democracy continues to shutting down internet and suspending mobile communications 'to thwart protests.
A total internet 106 internet shutdowns happened in 2019 alone, according to the Internet Shutdown Tracker, a portal which tracks such incidents across the country, making the world’s largest democracy the global leader of internet shutdowns. North eastern states including Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura, home to more than 36 million people witnessed the internet clampdown over the Citizenship Amendment Bill protests.
Few Days later, parts of the Uttar Pradesh and New Delhi, the national capital and one of the most populated state in the country joined the list. Upon request, three of the top telecom networks in the country clarified that they were just following government's direction. Authorities also cited that they ordered internet providers to suspend services citing public order reasons.
While the authorities cities it as 'precautionary method', the internet 'kill switch' is totally destabilizing the economy. Considering that 97 percent of the estimated 570 million internet users use at least a mobile device and internet access and online dealings, the internet clampdown is affecting the digital infrastructure of the country. With the internet shutdown and curfews, the government aims to to restrict the flow of any information that tend to escalate faster and wider. There is no doubt that many of the potentially dangerous information fuels rumors in India's cyberspace, especially during crisis.
But the shutdown affects more than protesters and those who involved in politics. Internet clampdown is literally bringing people to their knees who are just trying to make a living. From small scale retailers who solely relay on online services to internet cafes and mobile phone recharging, the actions are leaving the people in a pile of chaos and uncertainty. Also the
Internet shutdown also burning the telecom sections with Indian Mobile operators losing around 24.5 million rupees ($ 350,000) in a revenue every hour they force to suspend internet services on government orders. Indians consume an average of 9.8 gigabyte of data per month on their smart phone, the highest in the world, according to Swedish telecoms gear maker Ericsson.
Also India is the biggest market by users for social media firm Face book and its messenger Whats app. But the effectiveness of the shutdown inst clear too. Such actions will another way to counter such situations, which is the sole reason why 'Bridgefy', an app that only relies on Bluetooth was among the trending topics in Twitter India.
What does the law says ?
The IT Act Section 69 has a clause, which gives the government the right to block access to internet URLS in a situations of violence or threat to national security.
Longest Internet shutdowns in India
Jammu Kashmir - 148 days and counting. Internet service suspended on Aug 4 2019 .
