Manipur: Violence-hit state tops internet shutdowns in India in 2023 with 83 days of blackout

By Subham Singh: Manipur has now witnessed the longest internet shutdown in India in 2023. It’s been 83 days since the state has been without the Net amid the ongoing ethnic clashes between Meiteis and Kukis. Manipur’s blackout was put in the spotlight following a shocking viral video that surfaced late in July. The video, showing two Kuki-Zo women being paraded naked and molested by a large mob, made its way to Twitter more than two months after the actual incident. And this could be chalked up to the shutdown in the state.

The United Nations Human Rights Council in 2016 passed a non-binding resolution condemning countries that intentionally disrupt citizens' internet access. Yet, internet shutdowns are not just common but also enforced as a rule. Case in point, after the gruesome video of sexual violence went viral, Chief Minister N Biren Singh told India Today on July 20, “You should not listen to allegations but look at the ground reality. Hundreds of such incidents have happened, that is why the internet is banned.”

Manipur is hardly the only example of a prolonged blackout, but it now has the dubious record of being the fifth longest in the country. Kashmir tops this list with 552 days of internet shutdown from August 4, 2019, to February 6, 2021, after the abrogation of Article 370. At the same time, Kargil, following the separation of Ladakh as a Union Territory, witnessed 145 days of internet shutdown, from August 4, 2019, to December 27, 2019. Another prolonged blackout took place in West Bengal, where the internet was banned for 99 days in 2017.

India leads in internet shutdowns

A report published by Access Now stated that India has recorded the most shutdowns all over the world for five consecutive years since 2017. In 2022, the Net was banned 77 times, as per the Software Freedom Law Center in India. After India, the most such incidents reported globally were in war-torn Ukraine the same year, followed by Iran, with 18 incidents. Myanmar stood fourth with seven bans while our neighbour Bangladesh shut down the internet for six times last year.

As of July 25, there have already been 49 incidents of internet shutdown in India. Punjab witnessed eight incidents and Kashmir, four. In Punjab, the internet was shut down in some areas during March when Amritpal Singh, a Sikh separatist leader, was on the run. Odisha and Rajasthan witnessed two incidents of internet shutdown. Odisha suffered this action due to communal violence in Sambalpur district while REET paper leaks made Rajasthan enforce a Net ban.

The erstwhile state of Jammu & Kashmir, and now Union Territory, has suffered the most such bans over the past decade. From 2012 to July 20, 2023, it has witnessed 442 Internet shutdowns, followed by Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh which has taken down the internet 97 and 32 times, respectively, during the same period. Manipur holds the fourth position with 25 incidents of such bans, followed by West Bengal, where the Net was taken down 20 times in the past decade.