Internet shutdowns across the globe this year has been vast with Indian topping the chart in the highest number of Internet shutdowns this year.
Delhi-based Software Freedom Law Centre’s ‘internetshutdowntracker’ revealed internet shutdowns instances by government authorities were at least 121 instances till this date in the 2018 year alone.
This data widely shows how the Indian government is controlling internet services provided to citizens.
‘Freedom on The Net 2018’ has also released statistics on Thursday, where India scored 43 where it slipped in the partially free category that is the higher the score the lesser the freedom on the Net, that is if ‘0’ is full freedom then ‘100’ is no freedom at all.
The Indian governments sai=y this shutting down internet is necessary to contain the situation at times to prevent riots, incidents of hate crime, even to prevent cheating in exams.
The report stated that: “In Tamil Nadu, a video showing a child being kidnapped went viral on WhatsApp with a warning of child kidnappers on the prowl. The video is originally an announcement against child kidnapping from Pakistan.”
The report apart from noting SC’s verdict making privacy a mandatory fundamental right in August 2017 for its users, also cited that researchers who exposed security lapses in Aaadhar, clearly stated that Indian authorities are “poor custodians of citizen’s information”.