The government’s rationale behind the internet shutdown is to combat fake news amid escalating protest violence between farmers and police, but analysts and critics say a total digital ban could be a serious threat ahead of a general election. It warns that this is a worrying authoritarian move.
Indian farmers vow to continue marching even as police allegedly fire pellet guns
Indian farmers vow to continue marching even as police allegedly fire pellet guns
Over the past week, protests have been chaotic, with police using tear gas, rubber bullets and, some say, pellet guns against demonstrators. On Wednesday, a 21-year-old farmer reportedly died after being hit by bullets fired by the Haryana Police. Farmers called off their protests for two days after the young man’s death.
The government had originally extended the mobile internet suspension from February 13 to February 15, but on Wednesday it further extended the suspension until Friday.
“I don’t understand why in today’s world there are people who would block the internet and make people suffer so much. As a student, your time is precious and you need internet access for many topics of study. Without it, I feel like I’m in prison,” Singh lamented.
Like her, thousands of people in the northern regions of India’s Punjab and Haryana states are suffering from internet outages. The Indian government’s justification for the move is to reduce the “spread of misinformation and rumors across various social media platforms.”
Many people who spoke to Asia This Week expressed frustration and a sense of injustice over the outage of internet services, arguing that the situation would only make the situation worse.
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Balpreet Singh, a 28-year-old gig worker from Kanauli, Punjab, was frantically checking his phone, looking for connections. Her week here hasn’t brought in much income as she hasn’t had any online delivery orders.
“This is unfair to people who rely solely on the internet for their income. I am the sole breadwinner for a family of three and I can’t afford to lose a week’s worth of work. My wife needs medication. Without income, it becomes difficult to meet daily expenses because we are in need,” he revealed.
Raman Jit Singh Chima, Asia-Pacific policy director at global digital rights organization Access Now, said internet shutdowns are consistently disproportionate and unjust measures that seriously violate individual rights. claim that it is.
“In India in particular, reliance on the internet to communicate with family, work-related tasks, and access critical resources such as transportation has steadily increased, and the impact has been profound. Many essential services, including the Internet, rely heavily on Internet connectivity.
“These closures therefore not only disrupt social life and human rights, but also endanger the ability to make a living and prosper in India,” Chima said.
“Furthermore, we strongly believe that shutting down the internet has a disproportionate impact and cannot be justified in a constitutionally-abiding, rule-of-law democracy like India.”
02:31
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‘What choice do I have?’: Centenarian farmers join India’s protests demanding fair crop prices
“Collective punishment”?
Critics say the data appears to contradict the pride and promotion of the “digital India” vision that Mr. Modi has championed since taking office in 2014.
Digital experts say India’s use of internet shutdowns has skyrocketed since 2020, surpassing even authoritarian regimes such as Russia, Sudan, Iran, Myanmar and Ethiopia. This period saw a marked trend toward digital authoritarianism, particularly in response to various protests in India.
Much of this trend can be traced back to August 2017, when the Indian government issued regulations under the Telegraph Act, giving legal powers for such closures. Prior to this, there was legal ambiguity as to whether such a move was permissible in India.
Changes in the law were seen as beneficial to the Bharatiya Janata Party government, particularly when it unilaterally stripped Indian-administered Kashmir of its semi-autonomy and imposed an 18-month internet blackout. Also last year, the internet was shut down indefinitely in the northeastern state of Manipur, causing widespread devastation among the population.
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“Unfortunately, India has been the country with the highest number of internet shutdowns over the past few years. We have seen a clear trend by having the most regular internet shutdowns compared to other countries,” Chima said. said.
Renowned journalist and author Aakal Patel told This Week in Asia that such practices are undemocratic and have a trickle-down effect on national administration.
“The Government of India (GoI) is not operating in a democratic manner in most of its activities,” Patel said. “The idea of collective punishment, where entire populations suffer for perceived threats, is unfortunately commonplace, especially in Kashmir.”
He warned that “India’s future course could lead to continued repression or the exacerbation of existing grievances, as the ongoing farmers’ protests demonstrate.”
In addition to imposing an internet ban amid the ongoing farmers’ protests, the Indian government has also issued two sets of block orders on social media accounts and links related to the protests, and has blocked 42 X accounts. 177 links and accounts were blocked. Most of the suspended or suspended accounts were critical of the Bharatiya Janata Party government.
On Thursday, X announced through its Global Government Affairs account that it would withhold some accounts and posts in India in accordance with a government order, even though it disagreed with the action and cited freedom of expression. .
“The Government of India has issued an executive order requiring X to take action against certain accounts and posts that may result in penalties including significant fines and imprisonment. Pursuant to the order, only within India “We are suspending these accounts and posts. However, we do not agree with these actions and insist that freedom of expression should extend to these posts,” the platform said.
Digital experts say the huge increase in web censorship and internet shutdown just weeks before India’s general elections, expected to be held in April-May, is extremely worrying. are doing.
Mishi Chaudhary, a digital lawyer and online civil rights activist, said there has been a noticeable increase in the removal of content and blocking of social media handles related to the farmer protests in Asia this week.
“No platform provides any information as to why this act of voting Rule 16 secrecy is being done. This black hole is continually being exploited by the Indian government, which carefully controls the information available to Indians. doing.”
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The activist further questioned how citizens could exercise their right to peacefully assemble if all protests were considered a public emergency or a matter of public safety.
Digital law expert and activist Apal Gupta highlighted that X served as a reliable medium for farmers during the 2020-2021 protests. The platform helped issue official press releases, document police excesses, foster community, and gather sympathy for the cause through hashtags. It has emerged as an important communication channel for farmers to clarify their demands and counter disinformation.
“The situation is different today. Block orders on Twitter [now X] Farm leaders’ reports have been published in advance. There is no transparency or natural justice in this form of pre-censorship,” he explained.
“Globally, legislation has been introduced asserting the right to the internet as a fundamental human right. But in our part of the world, internet shutdowns are being enforced,” says Daljit, a doctoral scholar. Shin said. “As an academic, my day begins and ends with logging off from the internet. Now that the internet is not available, I have contacted friends in other states dozens of times just to check details related to my research project. I also need to make a phone call.”
