SFLC.in had written to all the members of the IT committee chaired by Dr. Shashi Tharoor on 8th June 2020 highlighting the menace of Internet shutdowns.
Our letter highligted the adverse impact of Internet shutdowns on citizens of the country. The letter also reinstated the plight of the citizens of Jammu and Kashmir as the region has had more than 365 days of restricted communication.
We have been maintaining an Internet Shutdown tracker which records the number of internet shutdowns that have occured in the country, We have also been trying to record the impact of the block by running an Initiative called Voices from Kashmir.
SFLC.in had earlier written 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.
We are hopeful that the IT committee will look into the matter of states imposing arbitary internet shutdowns and come up with recommedations that will help fighting against these net disruptions.
Read the letter below:
Via Electronic mail communication
June 8, 2020
To
Dr. Shashi Tharoor
Member of Lok Sabha
Parliament of India
Chairperson
Committee on Information Technology
Sir,
Subject: The Worrying Trend of Internet Shutdowns in India.
We at SFLC.in have been maintaining an Internet Shutdowns tracker available at internet shutdowns.in since 2012. Our Tracker since 2012 has recorded a total number of 392 shutdowns in India. 2019 itself saw around 106 shutdowns. India is leading the world in the number of internet shutdowns. Jammu and Kashmir saw a complete blackout for 213 days starting from August 4, 2019 which was followed by the internet being restored at 2G speed. The restriction on 4G is still in place.
Internet shutdowns are much more than social media bans and gravely impact health, education, economy and human rights. They are also known to cause psychological impact on people. A latest report by Top10VPN estimated the cost of Internet shutdowns on the Indian economy to be over $1.3 Billion for the year 2019. We have documented the impact of these shutdowns on citizens
which are available at “Lost Voices”. Moreover, a number of these shutdowns are imposed illegally using Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code instead of the procedure laid down as per the Telecom Suspension Rules, 2017.
We are also deeply concerned about the impact these shutdowns have on the free speech rights of citizens guaranteed by our Constitution.
Through this letter, we urge you to look into the matter of States imposing arbitrary internet shutdowns impacting the rights of citizens.
Yours sincerely,
Prasanth Sugathan
Legal Director,
SFLC.IN
prasanth@sflc.in
