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Internet shutdowns must be minimised

India continues to top global lists in imposing internet shutdowns for the fifth year in a row, with 84 such documented cases in 2022, according to the annual report released by digital rights organisation Access Now, in collaboration with the KeepItOn coalition. India has been responsible for around 58 per cent of all documented global shutdowns since 2016. In addition to blanket shutdowns, Indian authorities have blocked over 55,000 websites in the 2015-22 period, with over 6,700 such blocks of websites and platforms occurring in 2022. Shutdowns and censorships violate the fundamental right to free expression. In addition, these are economically damaging, and run completely against the grain of the stated policy of encouraging “Digital India” with its promise of e-commerce and digital transactions. Although there have been legal challenges, shutdowns continued to be imposed in knee-jerk fashion by both the central and state governments. The reasons range from civil protests, to politically sensitive murders, to elections, to preventing cheating in exams.

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