• Home
  • Politics
  • Health
  • World
  • Business
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • More
    • Sports
    • Entertainment
    • Lifestyle
What's Hot

Three Treatment Options To Consider

May 9, 2025

Microsoft Bans Employees From Using ‘Chinese Propaganda’ Chatbot

May 9, 2025

How Smart Mattresses Improve Sleep Quality For Couples

May 9, 2025
Facebook Twitter Instagram
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
Sunday, May 11
Patriot Now NewsPatriot Now News
  • Home
  • Politics

    Security video shows brazen sexual assault of California woman by homeless man

    October 24, 2023

    Woman makes disturbing discovery after her boyfriend chases away home intruder who stabbed him

    October 24, 2023

    Poll finds Americans overwhelmingly support Israel’s war on Hamas, but younger Americans defend Hamas

    October 24, 2023

    Off-duty pilot charged with 83 counts of attempted murder after allegedly trying to shut off engines midflight on Alaska Airlines

    October 23, 2023

    Leaked audio of Shelia Jackson Lee abusively cursing staffer

    October 22, 2023
  • Health

    Disparities In Cataract Care Are A Sorry Sight

    October 16, 2023

    Vaccine Stocks—Including Pfizer, Moderna, BioNTech And Novavax—Slide Amid Plummeting Demand

    October 16, 2023

    Long-term steroid use should be a last resort

    October 16, 2023

    Rite Aid Files For Bankruptcy With More ‘Underperforming Stores’ To Close

    October 16, 2023

    Who’s Still Dying From Complications Related To Covid-19?

    October 16, 2023
  • World

    New York Democrat Dan Goldman Accuses ‘Conservatives in the South’ of Holding Rallies with ‘Swastikas’

    October 13, 2023

    IDF Ret. Major General Describes Rushing to Save Son, Granddaughter During Hamas Invasion

    October 13, 2023

    Black Lives Matter Group Deletes Tweet Showing Support for Hamas 

    October 13, 2023

    AOC Denounces NYC Rally Cheering Hamas Terrorism: ‘Unacceptable’

    October 13, 2023

    L.A. Prosecutors Call Out Soros-Backed Gascón for Silence on Israel

    October 13, 2023
  • Business

    Microsoft Bans Employees From Using ‘Chinese Propaganda’ Chatbot

    May 9, 2025

    OpenAI CEO Warns: ‘Not A Huge Amount Of Time’ Until China Overpowers American AI

    May 9, 2025

    Trump Announces First Post-Tariff Trade Deal

    May 8, 2025

    Electric Vehicle Sales Nosedive As GOP Takes Buzzsaw To Biden’s Mandate

    May 7, 2025

    Tyson Foods Announces It Will Bend The Knee To Trump Admin’s New Rules

    May 7, 2025
  • Finance

    Ending China’s De Minimis Exception Brings 3 Benefits for Americans

    April 17, 2025

    The Trump Tariff Shock Should Push Indonesia to Reform Its Economy

    April 17, 2025

    Tariff Talks an Opportunity to Reinvigorate the Japan-US Alliance

    April 17, 2025

    How China’s Companies Are Responding to the US Trade War

    April 16, 2025

    The US Flip-flop Over H20 Chip Restrictions 

    April 16, 2025
  • Tech

    Cruz Confronts Zuckerberg on Pointless Warning for Child Porn Searches

    February 2, 2024

    FTX Abandons Plans to Relaunch Crypto Exchange, Commits to Full Repayment of Customers and Creditors

    February 2, 2024

    Elon Musk Proposes Tesla Reincorporates in Texas After Delaware Judge Voids Pay Package

    February 2, 2024

    Tesla’s Elon Musk Tops Disney’s Bob Iger as Most Overrated Chief Executive

    February 2, 2024

    Mark Zuckerberg’s Wealth Grew $84 Billion in 2023 as Pedophiles Target Children on Facebook, Instagram

    February 2, 2024
  • More
    • Sports
    • Entertainment
    • Lifestyle
Patriot Now NewsPatriot Now News
Home»Tech»India Leads the World in Internet Shutdowns
Tech

India Leads the World in Internet Shutdowns

September 13, 2023No Comments5 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Wednesday that India is the world leader in shutting down Internet access, coming in ahead of heavyweight access-blockers like Iran, Libya, and Sudan with 84 regional shutdowns in 2022.

In fact, India accounted for over half of all Internet shutdowns detected around the globe by a digital rights group called Access Now, which began tracking access blockages in 2016. 

Last year was especially bad because of the unrest in Manipur, a province of India tormented by tribal warfare. Indian officials shut down the Internet in Manipur soon after the latest round of violence began in May, and was only partially restored in July, albeit with heavy monitoring and continuing bans on mobile Internet and wifi.

India’s blockade on Internet access in Manipur was blamed for suppressing a shocking video that showed two women from the Christian Kuki tribe being paraded naked through the jungle and then sexually assaulted by a mob. The incident occurred in early May, but was not made public until July because of the Internet blockage, a delay that made it more difficult to identify and apprehend the perpetrators. Seven arrests were eventually made in connection with the assault, including the youth who filmed it.

“The Manipur shutdown crippled the ability for information to reach the rest of the world. If we had seen the videos hidden from us for almost 80 days back in May, we could have reacted to it sooner,” Indian technology lawyer Mishi Choudhary told Time in August.

Manipur takes a back seat to Kashmir for the longest Internet shutdown in India, and indeed the entire world. Internet access was blocked in Muslim-majority Kashmir in August 2019, and was only partially restored 552 days later, thanks to an order from India’s Supreme Court. 

See also  Tucker Carlson Rips DOJ For ‘Shocking Attack’ On ‘Freedom Of Speech’ In Internet ‘Troll’ Conviction

Other heavy shutdowns were ordered during the farm protests of 2020-2021, Hindu-Muslim tensions in western India in 2022, and the manhunt for Sikh separatist leader Amritpal Singh in early 2023.

Choudhary described India as “the most brutal censor of the Internet in the democratic world,” citing reports from digital rights groups that have awarded India that dubious distinction for the past five years running. As bad as 2022 was, India had already surpassed its number of Internet blocks by June 2023.

In addition to regional blockades on Internet access, India frequently blocks individual websites and social media accounts – almost 7,000 of them last year, according to Access Now. Time pointed out that the Indian government does not publish statistics on Internet shutdowns, and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology claims it does not keep them. All of the data on India’s Internet restrictions comes from outside watchdog groups.

Most of India’s Internet major shutdowns are imposed by the government during times of unrest, as in Manipur and Kashmir, but Time cited a report from the Internet Freedom Foundation and Human Rights Watch that found a third of the disruptions between 2020 and 2022 were imposed to prevent students and civil servants from cheating on exams.

The WSJ focused on the heavy costs of Internet shutdowns, which fall heavily upon India’s poor, and sharply contradict Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Digital India” initiative, under which he pronounced connectivity to be “as much a basic right as access to school.”

“Digital India” included a massive push to make mobile Internet access more affordable and get Indians to use digital commerce platforms. Shutting down the Internet yanks away the digital rug that all of those people were persuaded to stand upon, and wreaks havoc on small entrepreneurs who rely heavily on online business information and payment systems. The entire business model for enterprises like ride-hailing and food delivery services collapses when Internet access is blocked.

See also  Madonna Hospitalized for 'Serious Bacterial Infection,' Several Day Stay in ICU, Delays World Tour

Shutdowns are also brutal on poor Indians who use online systems to collect subsidies, rural workers who receive their paychecks online, and startups hoping to lure foreign investment. The total economic damage from Internet shutdowns is approaching $5 billion, according to digital rights groups.

Digital rights advocates point out there is little evidence that Internet shutdowns actually help to quell unrest, especially since they tend to impose additional hardships on restless populations, giving them fresh reasons to be angry at each other and the government. 

In June, the United Nations Human Rights Office reported on the suffering from Internet shutdowns and urged all member states to refrain from using such techniques.

“Shutdowns are powerful markers of sharply deteriorating human rights situations,” the U.N. warned.

The U.N. also made the point that Internet blockages are counterproductive because they cause “fear and confusion,” increase “risks of division and conflict,” deepen “digital divides” between segments of society, and inflict “economic shocks” on populations that cannot bear them.

“At least 27 of the 46 least developed countries have implemented shutdowns between 2016 and 2021, most of which have received support to increase connectivity,” the report grimly observed.

India internet leads Shutdowns World
Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email

Related Posts

What the US Exit From the Information Technology Agreement Means for America and the World

April 14, 2025

How India Should Respond to Trump’s Tariff Threat

April 10, 2025

Markets Plunge In First Hours Of Trading After Trump Slaps Tariffs On World

April 3, 2025

101 Inspirational Earth Day Quotes to Help Us Appreciate Our World and Make It a Better Place

March 7, 2025
Add A Comment

Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

Top Posts

Diesel Is Pricing a Scarcity With Winter Market Looming Large

August 20, 2023

Digitalization: How the EU Can Transform Central Asia 

August 23, 2023

British Energy Giant BP To Spend $1.3 Billion Buying Footing Into US Fuel Center Market

February 17, 2023

Elderly Man Severely Beaten in Movie Theater for Asking to Sit in His Reserved Seats

October 2, 2023
Don't Miss

Three Treatment Options To Consider

Lifestyle May 9, 2025

The most common cause of hair loss in men is male androgenetic alopecia (MAA), otherwise…

Microsoft Bans Employees From Using ‘Chinese Propaganda’ Chatbot

May 9, 2025

How Smart Mattresses Improve Sleep Quality For Couples

May 9, 2025

OpenAI CEO Warns: ‘Not A Huge Amount Of Time’ Until China Overpowers American AI

May 9, 2025
About
About

This is your World, Tech, Health, Entertainment and Sports website. We provide the latest breaking news straight from the News industry.

We're social. Connect with us:

Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest
Categories
  • Business (4,112)
  • Entertainment (4,220)
  • Finance (3,202)
  • Health (1,938)
  • Lifestyle (1,629)
  • Politics (3,084)
  • Sports (4,036)
  • Tech (2,006)
  • Uncategorized (4)
  • World (3,944)
Our Picks

HE’S SHOT: Biden Forgets to Unplug Earpiece After Presser, Then Walks Away Without Shaking Hands with Other Two Leaders (VIDEO) | The Gateway Pundit

August 18, 2023

Rashid gets his first gameplay reveal in Street Fighter 6 along with an official release date

July 6, 2023

Actress Sues Bill Cosby over Alleged Sexual Assault During 1971 Audition

September 14, 2023
Popular Posts

Three Treatment Options To Consider

May 9, 2025

Microsoft Bans Employees From Using ‘Chinese Propaganda’ Chatbot

May 9, 2025

How Smart Mattresses Improve Sleep Quality For Couples

May 9, 2025
© 2025 Patriotnownews.com - All rights reserved.
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.