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.
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.
Read complete editorial: https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/blunt-weapon-on-internet-shutdowns/article69262680.ece
