Speaking at Democracy Wall, Sekhani, a researcher, says the shutdown hours cost India a staggering $3.1 billion.
New Delhi: India witnessed the highest number of Internet shutdowns across the world in the past year, said researcher Richa Sekhani Friday.
Sekhani said Pakistan ranked number two while China didn’t even figure on the list.
“The number of shutdowns jumped from 3 in 2012, the first time Internet was shut down in India, to 71 in 2017. The total number of shutdown hours amounted to 16,135 and cost India a staggering $3.1 billion,” she added.
A Unesco report earlier said people in South Asian countries experienced at least 97 instances of Internet shutdown between May 2017 and April 2018, with India alone accounting for 82 such cases.
Sekhani was in conversation with Manasi Phadke, associate editor at ThePrint, at the eighth edition of Democracy Wall.
Democracy Wall is a monthly free speech campus initiative organised by ThePrint in collaboration with Facebook. The event was held at Symbiosis Centre for Media & Communication, Pune. Actor Kay Kay Menon, politician Raghav Chadha, rapper Feyago, comedian Abhineet Mishra and Sekhani were speakers at the event.
What is Internet shutdown?
Internet shutdown is the intentional dismantling of fixed line or mobile internet. In India, the phenomenon has mostly been targeted at mobile connections, said Sekhani.
In 2017, directives were set down for Internet shutdown. “They may have been arbitrary before, but there is a procedure now. But it begs the question, do Internet shutdowns work,” asked Sekhani.
“Internet shutdowns are used as a preventive measure. But there needs to be evidence to support that Internet shutdowns can quell social unrest. Otherwise, the shutdowns seem to quiz the efficacy of the police,” she said.
Justified measure?
According to Sekhani, internet shutdowns in India have mostly occurred in situations where the law and order of a state were threatened, and in case of social or civil unrest. However, random shutdowns, like in the case of Rajasthan, are also not unheard of.
However, students at Symbiosis were divided about whether the measure is justified.
“When the Ram Rahim judgment came, my parents were in Panchkula, and I was at my university in Chandigarh. But I feel it was a good thing that the Internet was shut down at that time. It seemed like a necessity. Also, since we had broadband, we could access information easily,” said a student.
Another student, whose family hails from Tamil Nadu’s Thoothukudi, cited the Sterlite crisis in May when he couldn’t reach his family and said the measure wasn’t called for.
“One also has to consider the e-commerce players when talking about internet shutdowns. In Kashmir, curfews and shutdowns have generated negative reviews from many online businesses. They had to shut down their online retail options,” said Sekhani.