Thread by @SFLCin

#LetTheNetWork
@SFLCin had filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court of India in April of this year challenging various Indian State governments imposing arbitrary internet shutdowns during examinations.
#InternetShutdowns #keepiton #BREAKING
internetshutdowns.in

The petition filed under #Article32 of the Indian Constitution challenges the states of #ArunachalPradesh, #Rajasthan, #Gujarat and #WestBengal. We have impleaded State of #Assam as a party through an Intervention Application filed this week.

The petition is yet to come up.
We will be sharing more details regarding the petition once it is listed.
We are committed to defend your digital freedoms and to #LetTheNetWork.
#StayTuned

Prior to this, we had sent a representation to Government of Assam to not impose Internet Shutdowns on 21st and 28th August for Direct Recruitment Exams. An internet shutdown was imposed in Assam on 21st August.

https://twitter.com/SFLCin/status/1560257388091166740

Certain states in India have been imposing blanket bans on internet services to prevent cheating in examinations. However, these shutdowns are arbitrary and violate The Telecom Suspension Rules, 2017. All of these shutdowns have been documented at internetshutdowns.in

The first-ever ban on mobile internet services due to exams was witnessed in #Gujarat in 2016 where the shutdown lasted for 4 hours during the RARE. A total of 26 towns and cities were affected including major industrial regions like #Ahmedabad, #Surat and #Gandhinagar.

Till filing of the petition, @SFLCin had documented a total of 12 exam-related #InternetShutdowns in various parts of the country. These 12 instances amounted to more than 70 hours of disruption of the internet services. 7 out of the 12 suspensions were imposed in #Rajasthan.

India is now called the Internet Shutdown Capital of the world. According to Top10VPN’s ‘Global Cost of Internet Shutdowns Report 2021’, India faced an economic loss of $582.8M due to internet shutdowns in 2021 alone.
top10vpn.com/research/cost-…

Suspension of mobile internet services results in huge economic losses, especially to the small business owners who depend on digital payment services.

Food delivery partners and cab drivers face severe hurdles in doing their jobs as mobile internet is essential for their work.
youtube.com/playlist?list=…

#LetTheNetWork
@SFLCin has been running India's only Internet shutdown tracker at internetshutdowns.in to document all the instances of internet suspensions in the country. The data is collated with the help of news articles and volunteers due to the absence of documentation.

Neither the Ministry of Telecom nor the Ministry of Home Affairs maintains the records of #InternetShutdowns in India. @SFLCin is working to document all such instances that are unaccounted for.

To help @SFLCin continue resisting internet shutdowns and safeguard your digital rights, donate today at sflc.in/donate

#LetTheNetWork #keepiton #InternetShutdowns