India records highest number of Internet shutdowns in 2023

• India witnessed the highest number of Internet shutdowns in the world in 2023.

Highlights:

• The Internet was shut down 116 times in the country last year.
• Officials in India continue to impose Internet shutdown orders over communal tension, violence, exams, and other reasons.
• This has drawn condemnation from civil society in India and around the world, especially in Manipur, where footage documenting atrocities committed during the ethnic violence have gone viral several weeks after the incidents actually took place.
• More of these shutdown orders are being applied regionally rather than locally.
• The impacts were severe, particularly for women, as the shutdowns made it more difficult to document rampant atrocities, including murder, rape, arson, and other gender-based violence, thereby making it difficult to hold perpetrators accountable.
• With 37 orders, Myanmar recorded the second-highest number of Internet shutdowns, followed by Iran (34), Palestine (16), and Ukraine (8).

Prelims Takeaway:

• Internet Shutdown
• IT Act