SFLC.in wrote a letter to the special committee formed by the Supreme Court in Foundation of Media Professionals V. Union of India offering our assistance to the committee.
On 11th May 2020, the Supreme Court had ordered that a special committee has to be formed comprising of The Home Secretary to the Government of India, The Communications secretary and the Principal Secretary to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir to look into restoring 4G internet connection in the Union Territory. This committee was to be headed by the Home Secretary.
Jammu and Kashmir had faced unprecedented communication blackout since August 4th, 2019. 2G internet speed was restored in the valley only after 213 days. During this time, the COVID-19 pandemic hit-making it essential for the region to have 4G internet speed.
The order pronounced by a Bench comprising of Justices N.V Ramana, R Subhash Reddy, and B.R Gavai constituted a special committee to look into restoring 4G in the region. The order also asked the special committee to consider restricting internet speed in problematic areas and letting other areas have high-speed internet on a trial basis.
We wrote to the special committee offering our assistance in the matter.
SFLC.in has been maintaining an internet shutdown tracker that records instances of Internet Shutdowns in the Country. The Tracker has reported a total of 187 shutdowns in Jammu and Kashmir since 2012. We have also recorded Voices from the valley which documents the impact of the Internet shutdowns.
Read the letter below:
Via Electronic Mail Communication
June 3rd, 2020
To
Shri Ajay Kumar Bhalla
Home Secretary,
Government of India
Sir,
Sub: Offering assistance to Special Committee formed to look into restoring 4G in Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir
SFLC.IN is the first Indian legal services organization that works exclusively on technology, law, and policy. As a not-for-profit organization engaged in the empowerment of Indian citizens about their digital freedom and rights, it operates as a collective bringing together different stakeholders to a common platform to further the cause of digital rights. SFLC.in promotes innovation and open access to knowledge by helping policy makers make informed and just decisions regarding the use and adoption of technology. As of 2020, SFLC.in is the only Indian organization to be inducted as a member of the IFEX, a global network to defend the right to freedom of expression and information.
We are writing to you today to offer our assistance to the special committee formed by the Supreme Court of India and headed by the Home Secretary, Government of India. We have been tracking internet shutdowns in India since the year 2012, the data is
available at internetshutdowns.in. We have collected data about the internet shutdowns happening in the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir and how these shutdowns impact the people in the region
We have been receiving messages from people of the Union Territory in form of videos, tweets as well as submissions on our citizen tracker highlighting the issues that have been having with 2G connectivity in the state. We hope that these inputs will be useful for the special committee in examining the issue of internet restrictions in the Union Territory. We had also published a report in 2018 called ‘Living in Digital Darkness : a handbook on internet shutdowns in India’. The handbook covers various aspects of shutdowns in the country including causes, impacts, policy solutions etc.
We would be happy to assist the special committee on fact finding, research and impact assessment of Internet shutdowns in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. We would be honoured to assist the special committee in its findings.
Thank you for time and consideration,
Yours sincerely,
Prasanth Sugathan
Legal Director
SFLC.in
Copy to:
Shri Shaleen Kabra
The Principal Secretary
Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir
Shri Anshu Prakash
IAS, Telecommunication secretary
asfa-mord@nic.in
