September 11, 2017 at 10:00India enacted Internet shutdown law
In late August, Indian residents from the states of Haryana and Punjab discovered that 2G, 3G, 4G, CDMA and GPRS stopped working. SMS messages were also disabled. For several days, 50 million people were left without access to mobile Internet. With taking into account that 77% of urban and 92% rural people in India use mobile phones to access the Web, almost all of the digital channels for disseminating information to citizens were blocked.
This is not the first time that the country's authorities have resorted to this measure: since the beginning of 2017, 20 partial blackouts have been carried out in different areas . After the case of Haryan and Punjab, the media drew attention to the documentwhich was issued by the government of India in early August. It describes the rules and the process of disconnecting the Internet in the country. / Flickr / field engineer / cc
The document, issued by the Indian Ministry of Communications, is entitled “Temporary suspension of telecommunications services ([in case of] emergencies or [in order to comply] with public safety)”. It was published as part of the seventh section of the Telegraph Act of 1885. By and large, it provides a legal mechanism to “disconnect” the Internet. Previously, the procedure did not have a clear legal foundation.
Under the new rules, an order to block the Internet may be issueda senior official responsible for internal security, both at the country and state levels. The reason for the shutdown may be "insurmountable circumstances." The document allows any member of the Joint Secretariat to order a suspension if obtaining permission from the Ministry of the Interior “is not possible”. The ban may be maintained for 24 hours without the permission of the General Directorate. However, any blocking order must have certain grounds.
Orders are transmitted to telecom operators either in writing or through secure channels.
According to the IMRB report, the total Internet distribution in India in March 2017 was 31%. In the urban area, this figure doubles. Given the size of the digital economy, according to a study by the Brookings Institution, in 2015, India lost almost a billion dollars due to internet outages. This is more than any other country in the same period.
The Government of India attributes the blockade to an attempt to protect citizens. After the attacks in November 2008 in Mumbai, the Indian parliament approved amendments to the " Law on Information Technologies ", which expanded the government's monitoring capabilities. Restricting access embarked on a par with the introduction of a curfew for safety in the event of unrest.
In 2017, most of the locks fell on the state of Kashmir, whose territory has a disputed status. Locks were also committed in Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Maharashtra.
New rules in India complement the extensive list of laws governing the "disconnection of the Internet" around the world. Although public organizations, as a rule, condemn attempts by the authorities to control access to the Internet, as of 2016 in 27 countries certain documents were developed to allow this.
Over the past years, lock cases with varying frequency have occurred all over the world. In some countries, regular school exams were the occasion. For example in ethiopia andIraq . In some African countries, Internet blackout has become common during political elections. Since 2015, a law has been in force in China that is similar in principle to the new Indian rules. It also allows you to locally restrict Internet access for reasons of national security. And the consequences of such restrictions are discussed by economists and sociologists.
“Investors will no longer turn a blind eye to financial losses caused by the suspension of services,” said Peter Micek, legal adviser at Access Now. “Shutting down directly hurts the largest multinational companies and the smallest startups, blocking mobile transactions and blocking access to markets.”
The Brookings Institution concluded that between July 1, 2015 and June 30, 2016, countries in the world suffered $ 2.4 billion in damage due to local outages.
Peter Misek is convinced that more and more investors, banks and credit organizations will carefully review their attitude to states that practice such things.
PS What else are we writing on our VAS Experts blog:
This is not the first time that the country's authorities have resorted to this measure: since the beginning of 2017, 20 partial blackouts have been carried out in different areas . After the case of Haryan and Punjab, the media drew attention to the documentwhich was issued by the government of India in early August. It describes the rules and the process of disconnecting the Internet in the country. / Flickr / field engineer / cc
Right to Blackout
The document, issued by the Indian Ministry of Communications, is entitled “Temporary suspension of telecommunications services ([in case of] emergencies or [in order to comply] with public safety)”. It was published as part of the seventh section of the Telegraph Act of 1885. By and large, it provides a legal mechanism to “disconnect” the Internet. Previously, the procedure did not have a clear legal foundation.
Under the new rules, an order to block the Internet may be issueda senior official responsible for internal security, both at the country and state levels. The reason for the shutdown may be "insurmountable circumstances." The document allows any member of the Joint Secretariat to order a suspension if obtaining permission from the Ministry of the Interior “is not possible”. The ban may be maintained for 24 hours without the permission of the General Directorate. However, any blocking order must have certain grounds.
Orders are transmitted to telecom operators either in writing or through secure channels.
Why are they blocking?
According to the IMRB report, the total Internet distribution in India in March 2017 was 31%. In the urban area, this figure doubles. Given the size of the digital economy, according to a study by the Brookings Institution, in 2015, India lost almost a billion dollars due to internet outages. This is more than any other country in the same period.
The Government of India attributes the blockade to an attempt to protect citizens. After the attacks in November 2008 in Mumbai, the Indian parliament approved amendments to the " Law on Information Technologies ", which expanded the government's monitoring capabilities. Restricting access embarked on a par with the introduction of a curfew for safety in the event of unrest.
In 2017, most of the locks fell on the state of Kashmir, whose territory has a disputed status. Locks were also committed in Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Maharashtra.
New rules in India complement the extensive list of laws governing the "disconnection of the Internet" around the world. Although public organizations, as a rule, condemn attempts by the authorities to control access to the Internet, as of 2016 in 27 countries certain documents were developed to allow this.
Over the past years, lock cases with varying frequency have occurred all over the world. In some countries, regular school exams were the occasion. For example in ethiopia andIraq . In some African countries, Internet blackout has become common during political elections. Since 2015, a law has been in force in China that is similar in principle to the new Indian rules. It also allows you to locally restrict Internet access for reasons of national security. And the consequences of such restrictions are discussed by economists and sociologists.
“Investors will no longer turn a blind eye to financial losses caused by the suspension of services,” said Peter Micek, legal adviser at Access Now. “Shutting down directly hurts the largest multinational companies and the smallest startups, blocking mobile transactions and blocking access to markets.”
The Brookings Institution concluded that between July 1, 2015 and June 30, 2016, countries in the world suffered $ 2.4 billion in damage due to local outages.
Peter Misek is convinced that more and more investors, banks and credit organizations will carefully review their attitude to states that practice such things.
PS What else are we writing on our VAS Experts blog: