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.
