In India- are internet shutdowns in accordance with law?

In India- are internet shutdowns in accordance with law?

Subject: Polity

Section: Constitution

• India ranks first globally when it comes to cutting off the internet, thereby earning the notorious title of being the “internet shutdown capital” of the world.
• Last year, the mobile internet was shut down 127 times, while it’s been cut off 39 times this year so far.
• The reasons given were that shutdowns were imposed as a “precautionary” measure or in response to public protests.

What does the law say?

• Until 2017, India did not have a codified law to order internet shutdowns. The power to do so was vested in district magistrates under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
• In 2017, new rules to order internet shutdowns were introduced under the Indian Telegraph Act of 1885. 
• These rules – the Temporary Suspension of Telecom Services (Public Emergency or Public Safety) rules – stated that internet shutdowns can now only be ordered by the home secretary of the union or state governments.
• The rules also say that only in “unavoidable circumstances”, the passing of orders can be delegated to someone not lower than the rank of a joint secretary to the government of India. And even in this case, the official must be authorized by the centre or state home secretary.
• Shutdowns could be ordered where “necessary” or “unavoidable”, during a “public emergency” or in the “interest of public safety”.
• Regarding Internet shutdowns, Supreme Court in the case of Anuradha Bhasin  explicitly recognised two things:
  • that the freedom to access information is a fundamental right under Article 19(1)(a) of the constitution;
  • and that the freedom to conduct your trade, profession or business over the internet is also a fundamental right under Article 19(1)(g).
• These rights which are enshrined in the constitution, can only be curtailed in the interest of the “sovereignty and security of the state, integrity of the nation, friendly relations with foreign states, or public order or for preventing incitement to the commission of an offence.
• Additionally, most orders for shutdown apply to mobile internet, not broadband. Thus, these shutdowns disproportionately affect those from lower income groups.