For the fourth consecutive year, India has emerged as the country with the highest number of internet shutdowns for reasons ranging from curbing protests to preventing online frauds, a report released by tech policy think tank Access Now has found.
Of the 106 shutdowns, 85 were found in Jammu and Kashmir alone.
“In 2021, authorities deliberately shut down the Internet at least 182 times across 34 countries. India is the world’s largest offender, and blacked out the internet at least 106 times,” the report states.
The report, however, noted that the number is lower than what it was in 2020 — 109. Apart from India, the others at the top of the list include Myanmar (at least 15 times), Sudan and Iran (both at least five times each).
Internet shutdowns topped in Jammu and Kashmir, where authorities continue to impose intentional disruptions that last for extended periods due to the cross-border terrorism threats.
There has been a constant trend in the number of internet shutdowns in the country, usually for law and order, or security considerations, as requested by the home secretaries of states, or the Union home secretary. In 2020, India saw the highest number of internet shutdowns at 109 out of the overall 155 instances across the world.
