इंटरनेट शटडाउन का गरीबों पर सबसे ज्यादा असर: जनहित योजनाओं को लेकर नुकसान होता है; रिपोर्ट में दावा

According to the report, since 2018, India has shut down the most internet in the world.

The poor and needy are suffering the most due to frequent internet shutdowns in the country. According to a new report by Human Rights Watch and the Internet Freedom Foundation, India’s frequent and arbitrary internet shutdowns are attacking those who depend on the government’s social security program. This 82-page report has been released on Wednesday.

Blocking internet access on mobile phones and other devices has prevented beneficiaries of the Rural Employment Guarantee and the government’s subcity food program from taking advantage of them. Rural communities also find it difficult to do basic banking and pay essential bills. In such a situation, this is the class which is most affected by the internet shutdown.

This picture is from the year 2019. Internet was shut down during the protest against the Citizenship Bill in Delhi.

Internet shutdown should be a last resort
Jayashree Bajoria, assistant director for Asia at Human Rights Watch, said – The government’s emphasis on making internet a basic facility, but the government is using internet shutdown as default policing. Shutting down the internet should be a last resort.

But the government often resorts to internet shutdowns to prevent protests, communal violence, maintain law and order, and even stop cheating in school and university exams.

Net closed in big movements, 550 days in Kashmir
Internet remained closed for several days during caste violence in Manipur. Internet remained closed for 550 days from August 2019 to February 2021 during the removal of Article 370 in Kashmir. In Delhi, Haryana, the internet was also banned in the farmer’s movement. Services were stopped during protests over the citizenship law and to nab a separatist leader in Punjab.

India has highest number of shutdowns in the world since 2018
According to the report, since 2018, India has shut down the most internet in the world. In most of the shutdowns, internet has been shut down only on mobile phones. But, this shuts down the net completely, as 96% of customers in India access the internet through mobiles. 4% have fixed line net.

2257 hours closed in 2023, loss of 2044 crores
According to a report by UK-based digital privacy and security research group Top-10 VPN, the country has suffered a loss of Rs 2044 crore so far due to a total of 2,257 hours of internet shutdown in 2023.