The apex court has issued a notice to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and sought its response to the PIL.
In its plea challenging the internet shutdown orders issued by administrations of various cities and towns to avoid cheating during competitive exams, SFLC has said that such orders are “manifestly arbitrary and wholly disproportionate response”.
“The threat perception in all such cases is majorly flawed as district administrations in various states have been suspending internet services for an entire region for administrative reasons such as to prevent cheating in examinations. On one occasion, internet services were suspended even when high school examinations were being conducted,” SFLC has claimed in its petition.
India is among the leading countries on internet shutdowns. In 2021, government authorities snapped the internet 182 times overall, accounting for nearly half of the total government-enforced internet shutdowns worldwide. 2021 was the fourth year in a row when the country had snapped the internet most of the time globally, according to data obtained by AccessNow, a tech policy group.
SFLC, which also tracks the various internet shutdowns reported across the country, has in a report said that India had imposed 59 internet shutdowns till June 2022, compared to 100 in 2021 and 129 in 2020.
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“We cannot have the world’s leading companies be run by Indians while we continue shutting down the Internet. We hope the courts will ensure our right to the internet is respected as no rights can be negotiated without access,” said Mishi Choudhary, Founder of SFLC.in.
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