Internet Shutdowns Only Caused Troubles To People And Not Helped In Controlling Violence, Manipur Proves It Again

Internet services have remained suspended across Manipur since May 3, and if one is to go by the state government's position on it, it is unlikely to be lifted anytime soon.

Restoring internet will ignite riots: government

On Monday, the Biren Singh government had argued in the Supreme Court against the Manipur High Court's order directing it to restore internet services on Internet Lease Line (ILL) and Fibre To The Home (FTTH).

BCCL

The Manipur Government contested that restoring internet services would result in rumours igniting more riots in the troubled state -- an argument that failed to impress the SC.

India, world leader in internet shutdowns

The 79-day and counting internet shutdown in Manipur is the latest such action by a state government in India, where the citizens' access to online services became the first casualty in the efforts to stop violence from spreading.

AFP

Despite having no evidence to suggest that snapping the internet can help curb tensions in a violence-hit area, governments have gone ahead and done this state after state, earning India the dubious distinction of being one of the countries with the most internet shutdowns.

What internet shutdown did to Manipur

In Manipur, the internet shutdown not only failed to stop the violence from spreading but also resulted in the outside world being nearly blind-sided about what was going on there.

AFP

Case in point - the video went viral on Wednesday on social media.

The two Kuki women were stripped, paraded naked, groped and gang-raped by a mob in B Phainom, in Kangpokpi district, on May 4.

But thanks to the internet shutdown, it took some 75 days for the world to learn about an incident that is shocking beyond words.

In the 79 days that internet services remained suspended in Manipur, the state saw sporadic violence, clashes, arson and deaths.

AP

How students suffered

While the internet shutdown failed to prevent the spread of violence, what it 'achieved' was to disrupt more lives.

One of the first victims of the internet shutdown was the students - both inside Manipur and those studying in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Pune and Bengaluru.

As they depended on the money sent by their family for everything from fees to rent and food, thousands of students were left in the lurch as their parents could not transfer the money to them.

AFP

The internet shutdown also meant that many of these young people could not get in touch with their family members who were displaced by the violence.

The students who were in Manipur weren't spared either - those who had to apply for admissions, appear for exams and more failed to do so due to the lack of internet services.

If not to prevent violence from spreading, what then?

Following the emergence of the shocking video on Wednesday, many fear that it was just the tip of the iceberg and that evidence of more such unspeakable crimes will surface in the coming days.

AFP

Apar Gupta, the founder of the Internet Freedom Foundation felt that the internet wasn't shut down in Manipur for the security of the citizens, but to maintain a national apathy.

"Internet censorship won't douse the fires raging in Manipur. It requires truth, justice and reconciliation. Shame on our institutions of governance and public officials for having failed its people," he said in a Tweet.

"I deeply hope our constitutional courts recognise beyond security theatre there is also a state interest in shaping media narratives through internet shutdowns. It is often done for purposes of evading accountability, documentation and calls for relief by victims of violence," he added.

For more on news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News.