E-Paper
India leads in global internet shutdowns for 6th year in a row: Report
Of the 1,458 shutdowns Access Now has recorded globally since 2016, India has accounted for 773 (53%) of them
India logged 116 instances of internet shutdowns in 2023, accounting for 41% of the 283 globally, according to data analysed by Access Now, a not-for profit group that focusses on digital rights. As a result, India now leads the world in such crackdowns for the sixth year in a row.
Of the 1,458 shutdowns Access Now has recorded since 2016, India has accounted for 773 (53%) of them. In 2023, the number of internet shutdowns rose by 41% from 201 in 2022 to 283 in 2023.
Access now noted that internet shutdowns have an impact on India’s economy as well. “Shutdowns reportedly cost the country [India] $1.9 billion and a loss of $118 million in foreign investment in the first half of 2023 alone,” the report said. Citing Internet Society’s NetLoss Calculator, the report stated that a single-day shutdown can push up to 379 people into unemployment in the country.
In India, 64 shutdowns affected more than one district. This was driven by 47 shutdowns in Manipur and the statewide shutdown in Punjab in March. Internet services were suspended in Manipur from May 3 to December 3 (with a break of three days), for 212 days. “The impact was very severe, particularly for women, as the shutdowns made it more difficult to document rampant atrocities, including murder, rape, arson, and other gender-based violence, and thereby hold perpetrators accountable,” the report noted.
Apart from blocking certain platforms across the country, 13 states in India saw local or statewide internet shutdowns. The number of Indian states with more than five shutdowns increased from 3 in 2022 to 7 in 2023; 41% of all shutdowns in India lasted five or more days, up from 15% in 2022.
In 2023, Myanmar followed India with 37 internet shutdowns followed by Iran with 34. In 2023, 39 countries saw internet shutdowns. Pakistan had 7 shutdowns while Iraq had 6.
“Authorities have leveraged internet shutdowns as a blatant tool for enabling and exacerbating violence, war crimes, and other atrocities,” the report noted.
Palestine and Ukraine, both of which are amid border conflicts, saw 16 and 8 shutdowns, respectively, but unlike other countries in the report, where the country’s own government ordered a shutdown, in Palestine and Ukraine, the shutdown was imposed by “external parties”.
The report further revealed that 74 internet shutdowns across nine countries, including India, in 2023 were triggered by conflicts and 63 shutdowns across 15 countries were triggered by protests. Twelve shutdowns in six countries, including India, were ordered to prevent cheating in exams.
Access Now identified natural disasters as an “emerging trigger” for shutdowns as four shutdowns in four countries were ordered due to natural disasters.
The study also found that 51 shutdowns in 11 countries (including Iran, Palestine, Ukraine, Russia, and Sudan) coincided with “documented grave human rights abuses”.
There was a 35.6% increase in the number of platform blocks as they increased from 39 blocks in 29 countries in 2022 to 53 blocks in 25 countries in 2023.
Outside India, Grindr is the second-most blocked messaging platform after Facebook. Facebook was blocked 23 times in 11 countries, followed by Twitter which was blocked 21 times in 10 countries. WhatsApp was blocked 19 times in 9 countries and YouTube was blocked 17 times in 7 countries. Grindr was blocked 12 times in 12 countries.
Access Now noted that the blocking of platforms is undercounted due to the localised “nature of platform preferences, limited measurement data for platforms in countries where the user base is relatively small, discrepancies when a government does not fully or consistently implement stated policies for platform blocking, and people’s regular use of VPNs and other similar tools to circumvent blocks”.
