The 82-page report titled finds that since 2018, India has shut down its바카라 웹사이트internet more than any other country in the world.바카라 웹사이트
India라이브 바카라바카라 웹사이트arbitrary internet shutdowns disproportionately hurt its most vulnerable and impoverished that depend on the government라이브 바카라 social protection measures for food and livelihoods, a new report released by바카라 웹사이트Human Rights Watch and Internet Freedom Foundation said.바카라 웹사이트
The 82-page report titled "No Internet Means No Work, No Pay, No Food’: Internet Shutdowns Deny Access to Basic Rights in ‘Digital India,"바카라 웹사이트finds that since 2018, India has shut down its바카라 웹사이트internet more than any other country in the world.바카라 웹사이트
Of 28 states in the country, 18 shut down the internet at least once in the last three years. Eleven states out of these—Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Manipur, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and Telangana—did not publish suspension orders as directed by the Supreme Court.
“Even if orders were published, the authorities often failed to justify the apprehension of risk to public safety. Rajasthan, Arunachal Pradesh, West Bengal, and Assam governments shut down the internet to prevent cheating in examinations, which was clearly an unnecessary and disproportionate response,” the report states.
The total number of shutdowns does not include internet shutdowns in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir "where the authorities continued to shut down the internet more than any other place in the country,” the report stated.
In fact, India's longest internet shut down was in Jammu and Kashmir when the government shut down 4G mobile internet access for 550 days, from August 2019 to February 2021.바카라 웹사이트
Local authorities used shutdowns in 54 cases to prevent or in response to protests, 37 to prevent cheating in school examinations or in exams for government jobs, 18 in response to communal violence, and 18 for other law and order concerns, the report noted.
State governments have also resorted to internet shut down바카라 웹사이트as a form of "collective punishment". In March 2023,바카라 웹사이트the entire state of Punjab바카라 웹사이트was placed under a three-day mobile internet blackout to track down a separatist leader - Amritpal Singh.
In May, the state government of바카라 웹사이트Manipur completely blocked the internet바카라 웹사이트on both mobile and fixed line services for the entire month amidst ongoing ethnic violence.
Indian authorities claim the shutdowns are바카라 웹사이트necessary to prevent violence바카라 웹사이트fueled by rumors circulated on social media, and to prevent mobilization of mobs, the report noted.
However, a report by the바카라 웹사이트Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology바카라 웹사이트in 2021바카라 웹사이트concluded that, “So far, there is no proof to indicate that internet shutdown [sic] have been effective in addressing public emergency and ensuring public safety.”
The report notes that a large portion of the population -바카라 웹사이트96 percent of subscribers in India use their mobile devices to access the internet, while only 4 percent have access to fixed line internet.바카라 웹사이트
Several government schemes like the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNGREGA) have moved towards digitising its benefits. Attendance checks and wage payments for the scheme required adequate internet access. "Network coverage is already poor in remote areas, but internet shutdowns make the situation worse," the report said.
Another policy, the National Food Security Act, that provides subsidized food grains, requires internet as바카라 웹사이트all people eligible for subsidized food rations were obliged to link their ration card with Aadhaar, the country라이브 바카라 biometric identity system.바카라 웹사이트
"Internet shutdowns also make it much harder for rural communities to conduct basic banking, pay utility bills, and to apply for and access official documents," the report further said.