India One Step Ahead in the Internet Shutdowns Globally: Reports

By Aarti Dhapte , 09 March, 2023

The internet shutdown happened for the next year in a row, and the global number rose again in the second year, 2023. According to the newly released reports, the total number of shutdowns in 2022 is 187. Out of this, 84 shutdowns happened in India.

According to the reports, in 2020, the number of internet shutdowns dipped. The reasons behind the fall in internet shutdowns are the governments use internet shutdowns connecting with the curbing protests and dissent. The pandemic caused these events to happen less as stay-at-home orders and limits on mass gatherings were issued.

Since the time reporting has initiated in 2016, it reached the number 213 in 2019. But the same year, India saw the highest number of internet shutdowns- 121. In 2022, unlike past years of the highest number of internet shutdowns since the survey's inception, India saw a decrease in total global internet shutdowns. Similarly, in 2019, the toll of the number of countries employing internet shutdowns rose compared to 2021.

According to the survey, sixteen shutdowns globally lasted from 2021 to 2022, and from 2022 to 2023, the endless internet shutdowns number sixteen again. Again, India has accounted for 58 percent of all shutdowns approximately since 2016, when the survey documentation started. Thus, India reports having the most internet shutdowns in a row for five years. It was recorded to have almost half of all the shutdowns globally in 2022.