“The Committee find it unfortunate to note that no efforts have been made by the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) and Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to implement the recommendation of the Committee and maintain records related to internet shutdowns ordered by State Governments…they are not aware of the number of internet shutdowns imposed by the States,” observed the Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology in a Parliament report published on February 9, 2023. The Committee has called out the Indian government not only for the lack of data on internet shutdowns but also for not taking efforts to ensure: if the suspension orders are in accordance with the telecom suspension rules, and if the suspension rules are being properly reviewed by Review Committees across states. The 53-page report reviews the actions taken by the government on the recommendations made by the Committee in their 26th report on ‘Suspension of Telecom Services/Internet and its impact’, which came out on December 1, 2021. It lays out key recommendations that have not been followed by the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) and those that are interim in nature. STAY ON TOP OF TECH POLICY: Our daily newsletter with top stories from MediaNama and around the world, delivered to your inbox before 9 AM. Click here to sign up today! Why it matters? Internet shutdowns have been increasingly used as a go-to method by authorities in India for various reasons, not always related to law and order or public emergencies. Internet rights groups have…
News
Parliament Report: 7 Key Recommendations on Internet Shutdowns India’s Telecom Dept Didn’t Follow
Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology has called out the Indian govt for lack of data on internet shutdowns and disharmony in suspension rules
Please subscribe to MediaNama. Don't share prints and PDFs.
You May Also Like
News
Google has released a Google Travel Trends Report which states that branded budget hotel search queries grew 179% year over year (YOY) in India, in...
Advert
135 job openings in over 60 companies are listed at our free Digital and Mobile Job Board: If you’re looking for a job, or...
News
By Aroon Deep and Aditya Chunduru You’re reading it here first: Twitter has complied with government requests to censor 52 tweets that mostly criticised...
News
Rajesh Kumar* doesn’t have many enemies in life. But, Uber, for which he drives a cab everyday, is starting to look like one, he...