Internet Shutdown

The Punjab government on Tuesday extended the suspension of mobile internet and SMS services in Tarn Taran, Ferozepur, Moga, Sangrur and Amritsar's Ajnala sub-division and a few areas in Mohali till Thursday noon. The curbs will be lifted from the rest of the state from Tuesday noon, the department of home affairs and justice said in an order. " it is directed that all mobile internet services (2G/3G/45/5G/CDMA/GPRS), all SMS services (excluding banking and mobile recharge) and all dongle services provided on mobile networks, except the voice calls, in the territorial jurisdiction of Punjab shall continue to remain suspended from March 21 (12.00 hours) to March 23 (12.00 hours) only in the districts Tarn Taran, Ferozepur, Moga, Sangrur, sub-division Ajnala in Amritsar, areas adjoining YPS chowk and airport road, both in SAS Nagar in continuation of this office order no 1781 dated March 20 in the interest of public safety, to prevent any incitement to violence and to prevent any ...

The Punjab government extended the suspension of mobile internet and SMS services till Tuesday noon even as the hunt for the Khalistan sympathizer Amritpal Singh continued for the third day. The state authorities had on Saturday suspended the internet and SMS services in the state till Sunday noon. Later, the curbs were extended till Monday noon. According to the latest order of the Home Affairs department and Justice on Monday, .it is directed that all mobile internet services (2G/3G/45/5G/CDMA/GPRS), all SMS services (excluding banking and mobile recharge) and all dongle services provided on mobile networks, except the voice calls, in the territorial jurisdiction of Punjab shall be further suspended from March 20 (12.00 hours) to March 21 (12.00 hours) in the interest of public safety, to prevent any incitement to violence and to prevent any disturbance of peace and public order. The broadband services are not being suspended so that banking facilities, hospital services and othe

Internet shutdowns must be minimised

With 49 shutdowns to its credit, Jammu and Kashmir experienced the most shutdowns in 2022

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has deployed his satellite-based 'Starlink' service in Iran amid widespread protests in the country following which authorities had restricted internet access.Iranian authorities had cut off internet access for many of its citizens on Wednesday amid widespread protests over the death of a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini, in police custody, according to reports.On Friday, SpaceX founder Elon Musk had indicated that he will make Starlink available in Iran.US State Secretary Antony Blinken earlier announced on Twitter aboout advancing internet freedom and the free flow of information for the Iranian people by issuing a General License to provide them greater access to digital communications to counter, what he claimed, was the Iranian government's censorship.Replying to Blinken's tweet, Musk wrote, "Activating Starlink ...."Protestors have been demanding basic rights of freedom and holding demonstrations against the mandatory dress codes including the compulsory ...

Iranian authorities on Saturday announced to restrict internet access in the country over intensified protests after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died in police custody after her arrest

The Supreme Court on Friday sought a response from the Centre to a plea alleging arbitrary internet shutdowns in Arunachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan and West Bengal, saying it wants to know whether there exists any protocol on the issue. A bench comprising Chief Justice Uday Umesh Lalit and Justices S Ravindra Bhat and P S Narasimha said instead of issuing notices to the four states, which have been made parties to the petition, it would rather issue notice to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). We issue a notice only to the Centre (MeitY), the Union to indicate whether there are standard protocols with respect to grievance raised, said the bench. It was alleged in the PIL, filed by Software Law Center, that internet services have been shut down even for preventing cheating in some competitive examinations. Lawyer Vrinda Grover told the bench that petitions were filed in high courts in Calcutta and Rajasthan. Why can't you move the High Courts? You h

The government in 2019 had said emergency internet shutdowns were a matter for states in the interest of law and order

Internet services across 27 districts of Assam were suspended for over four hours on Sunday for the second time this month to prevent possible malpractices during a written examination for recruitment in various state government departments. After completion of the examination, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that fees of unsuccessful candidates will be sent to their bank accounts. The authorities decided to go ahead with their decision to suspend internet services during exam hours, after the Gauhati High Court refused to stay it following a writ petition against the order. Besides, prohibitory orders under Section 144 have been clamped in all the 27 districts where the examinations were conducted, a senior official said. Overall, more than 14.30 lakh candidates are expected to appear in three days for the recruitment test to fill up nearly 30,000 Grade III and IV posts in various government departments. While the Grade-IV tests were held on August 21 in two shifts, the

According to the order, some anti-social elements are using social media to transmit hate speeches inciting the passions of the public

Rajasthan is second after Jammu and Kashmir when it comes to suspending net service over law and order issues

With the situation gradually returning to normal, the curfew will be relaxed for 10 hours on Sunday, the officials said.

The situation in West Bengal's Howrah district, which on Friday witnessed violent protests against controversial remarks of suspended BJP spokespersons, was peaceful on Saturday morning

Two people died during the violent protest that erupted in Ranchi after Friday prayers against the controversial remarks on Prophet Muhammad made by Nupur Sharma and Naveen Jindal

All internet services were temporarily suspended in Ranchi till 6 am on Saturday i.e June 11, in wake of protests in the city on Friday over controversial remarks on Prophet Muhammad

Tension mounted in the Doda and Kishtwar areas of the Jammu region prompting authorities to impose a curfew there while parts of Kashmir observed a shutdown, officials said

Several Airtel users in India reportedly faced Internet and signal outage on Thursday. However, the company said it has restored the services.

After India, Myanmar imposed the highest total number of shutdowns in 2021, with 15 disruptions, followed by Sudan and Iran with five shutdowns in each country

In 2021, an hour of shutdown cost the country $0.5 mn; in 2020, it was $0.31 mn