Why India leads the world in internet shutdowns: Open violations of SC guidelines, silent judiciary

Manipur has faced an internet shutdown since May 4, when it was engulfed in a conflict between two ethnic groups. This outage violates the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court in 2020 for executive authorities to regulate internet suspension orders.

India has the unenviable distinction of having imposed the highest number of internet outages in the world over the past five years.

In Manipur, the executive authorities have disconnected an entire region in an attempt to control violence, despite the challenges it poses for the state’s economy, healthcare services and education sector.

But, as internet rights advocates and cyber experts point out, with the judiciary remaining a silent spectator on the open violation of the Supreme Court guidelines, the government will continue imposing arbitrary internet shutdowns.

Anuradha Bhasin judgment

In January 2020, the Supreme Court provided a detailed set of guidelines to regulate internet shutdown orders based on proportionality and necessity.

These were part of the landmark judgement in the Anuradha Bhasin versus Union of India case. The matter related to the indefinite internet suspension that was imposed in Jammu and Kashmir since August 2019, when its special status under the Constitution of India and its statehood had been abrogated.

The Supreme Court did not revoke the internet shutdown in Kashmir, but held, among other...

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