¡®Internet Shutdowns¡¯: After J&K, Rajasthan Is The New Hotbed, Says Data
Section 144 in all districts of Rajasthan for a month and internet was shutdown immediately and it expanded to the entire state in less than 24 hours.
Internet suspension following protests is not new to India. Internet services have been suspended in Rajasthan for the past six days in view of communal tension following the murder of a tailor in Udaipur. However, Jammu and Kashmir has witnessed the highest number of internet clampdowns ever.
The viral video of the brutal, cold-blooded beheading of tailor Kanhaiya Lal for supporting Nupur Sharma¡¯s statements on Prophet Mohammed on social media led to the internet suspension in Rajasthan. The incident led to protests in public places burning public property as well.
The Indian Express
The authorities have imposed section 144 in all districts of Rajasthan for a month and internet was shutdown immediately and it expanded to the entire state in less than 24 hours. However, now the shutdown remains only in Jaipur and Udaipur.
Rajasthan, a new hotbed
But this is not the first such instance of internet shutdown. A review of various reports on internet shutdowns in India shows that Rajasthan is now a hotbed of internet shutdowns after Jammu and Kashmir, says research conducted by the India Today.
LiveLaw
Rajasthan has seen complete or partial internet clampdown, a total of 88 times recently. Overall, the capital city of Jaipur saw the internet being shut 18 times, followed by Sikar district which saw online services shut 17 times and Udaipur 14 times. This is the second-highest reported clampdown on the internet in a state after Jammu and Kashmir that has suffered 411 shutdowns overall since 2012, according to Internetshutdowns.in, a website operated by the Software Freedom Law Centre, India -- the first Indian legal services organisation that works exclusively on technology, law, and policy.
Advocate Krishnesh Bhapat, Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF), an advocacy group that fights legal cases on arbitrary internet bans, said, ¡°In the past 3 years, Rajasthan has seen the most internet shutdowns than any other state in India, even more than Jammu and Kashmir. The problem with the state police is that a lot of times the state administration does not upload the orders to impose a shutdown of the internet in the public domain. They cite Section 81A of the RTI act saying that it may affect the sovereignty of the country.¡±
In its research conducted by India Today looked at several internet suspension orders issued in Rajasthan during April-June 2022 and found many reported instances of such clampdowns.
Look at past records
On June 10, 2022, Internet services suspended in Amer district of Rajasthan due to threat to MLAs, 13 May 2022 - Another internet shutdown in Rajasthan over tension after the attack on a VHP leader, 11 May 2022 - Internet services shut in Bhilwara amid tensions over the alleged killing of a 22-year-old boy, after which several Hindu organisations gathered and protested, May 5, 2022 - Internet services were suspended in Bhilwara after miscreants attacked two people, May 3, 2022 - Fresh communal clashes in Jodhpur on Eid, curfew imposed, internet suspended, April 4, 2022 - Internet shutdown in Karauli after communal clashes, March 16, 2022 - The internet was suspended for 12 hours in Jhunjhunu to let a religious procession pass peacefully without any communal tension.
AFP
Another report written by Dr Kris Rujigrok, a political scientist working at the University of Amsterdam, contends that Rajasthan is ahead in the number of internet shutdowns imposed after J&K territory at 68 times till 2021, which is elucidated in his report titled ¡®Understanding India¡¯s Troubling Rise in Internet Shutdowns¡¯ (published June 2021).
Other states in same race
Uttar Pradesh ranks third with 30 internet clampdowns, followed by West Bengal at 16 times and Bihar and Maharashtra tied up at 12 times, as per Internetshutdowns.in, a tracker for internet clampdowns.
ANI
¡°Other states where Internet shutdowns are fairly common are Rajasthan (68), Uttar Pradesh (29), Haryana (13), Maharashtra (13), West Bengal (12). By contrast, there have been no recorded shutdowns in the states of Kerala, Goa, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Mizoram. There is variation across regions as well. India¡¯s southern states seldom face internet shut downs while they are commonplace in the northern ones,¡± reported Dr Kris Rujigrok.
