INTERNET SHUTDOWNS IN 2023 searched for an alleged separatist on the run.152 In addition to ongoing nationwide platform blocks, in 2023, people in 13 states experienced local or statewide internet shutdowns, the same total from 2022. Among them, more authorities are repeatedly reaching for the kill switch, with the number of states employing five or more shutdowns in a year increasing from two in 2021 and three in 2022 to seven in 2023. In addition to Manipur and Punjab, authorities in Bihar (12), Haryana (11), West Bengal (6), Maharashtra (5), and Rajasthan (5) imposed shutdowns during protests, religious holidays, and exams. Jammu and Kashmir saw 17 shutdown orders, down from 49 in 2022. Not only were shutdowns implemented at wider geographic scales, they lasted longer in 2023. The share of shutdowns in India spanning across five days or more shot up from 15% of shutdowns in 2022 to more than 41% in 2023. When combined with nationwide blocking of 14 messaging apps starting in early May, 7,502 URL-blocking orders issued between January and October 2023, and India’s new telecom law giving the central government nearly unchecked power to impose internet shutdowns, trends in India point not only to a high number of short shutdowns but a spectrum of harmful, increasingly longer, and wider-ranging disruptions shrinking the civic space in the country.153 33 Four years after the historic Supreme Court judgment affirming the right to free speech and the fundamental right to carry out one’s trade or profession via the internet, officials continue to fail to publish shutdown orders and have been repeatedly corrected by courts for failing to comply, underscoring the urgent need for reform.154 Meanwhile, the harms of shutdowns in the country continue to be immense and multi-faceted, impairing education, healthcare, press freedom, and more. 155 Among them, internet shutdowns have deep impacts on India’s economy at all levels. According to calculations using the Internet Society’s NetLoss Calculator, a single-day shutdown can push up to 379 people into unemployment in India.156 Shutdowns reportedly cost the country $1.9 billion and a loss of $118 million in foreign investment in the first half of 2023 alone.157 On an individual level, the economic damage of shutdowns can be devastating. For people in a large section of the workforce in India, shutdowns can translate to no work, no pay, and no food.158 Shutdowns especially hurt marginalized groups who rely on the internet for newer revenue streams and for accessing gatekept opportunities.159 These harms are amplified further when placed in the context of India’s race to digitize access to services.160 152 CNN (2023). India cuts internet to 27 million as Punjab police hunt Sikh separatist. https://edition.cnn.com/2023/03/20/ india/india-separatist-manhunt-internet-shutdown-intl-hnk/index.html/ 153 Quartz (2023). India has blocked 14 mobile messenger apps on security fears. https://qz.com/india-has-blocked-14messenger-apps-on-security-fears-1850390425/; Supra note 73; Government of India (2023). Regulation of Activities of Intermediaries and Social Media. https://sansad.in/getFile/annex/262/AU732.pdf?source=pqars 154 Global Freedom of Expression (2020). Bhasin v. Union of India. https://globalfreedomofexpression.columbia.edu/cases/ bhasin-v-union-of-india/; LiveLaw (2023). Manipur High Court Orders State To Operationalise Mobile Towers In Violence Free Areas 'On Trial Basis'. https://www.livelaw.in/high-court/manipur-high-court/manipur-internet-ban-mobile-tower-restorationhigh-court-241772/; The Hindu (2024). Supreme Court directs publication of final orders of panel reviewing ‘proportionality’ of Internet suspensions in J&K. https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/supreme-court-on-panel-reviewing-internetsuspensions-in-jammu-kashmir/article67878209.ece/ 155 India Today (2023). How Manipur students battling crisis and appearing for the university exams. https://www. indiatoday.in/education-today/news/story/how-students-of-manipur-are-battling-crisis-and-appearing-for-the-universityexams-2419060-2023-08-10/; The Wire (2023). India’s Internet Shutdowns Hurt Women More, Manipur Assaults Show. https://thewire.in/security/indias-internet-shutdowns-hurt-women-more-manipur-assaults-show/; Newslaundry (2023). No internet, frenzied mobs: Manipur journalists on ‘biggest challenges’ to reporting on the conflict. https://www.newslaundry. com/2023/05/17/2023/05/10/no-internet-frenzied-mobs-manipur-journalists-on-biggest-challenges-to-reporting-on-theconflict/; Newsclick (2023). Manipur Internet Shutdown Hurting Patients: Doctors. https://www.newsclick.in/manipur-internetshutdown-hurting-patients-doctors/; Imphal Free Press (2023). Internet ban affecting professionals in Manipur. https://www.ifp. co.in/manipur/internet-ban-affecting-professionals-in-manipur/ 156 Internet Society Pulse (n.d.). Netloss Calculator. https://pulse.internetsociety.org/netloss/ 157 The Economic Times (2023). Internet shutdowns cost $1.9 billion to India in Jan-Jun 2023: Report. https://economictimes. indiatimes.com/tech/technology/internet-shutdowns-cost-1-9-billion-to-india-in-jan-jun-2023-report/articleshow/101368283.cms 158 Human Rights Watch (2023). “No Internet Means No Work, No Pay, No Food”. https://www.hrw.org/report/2023/06/14/nointernet-means-no-work-no-pay-no-food/internet-shutdowns-deny-access-basic/ 159 Rest of World (2022). Connection unstable: Kashmir’s influencers seek internet fame but can’t get online. https://restofworld.org/2022/kashmir-influencers-blackouts/; see also The Wire (2021). The Internet Belongs to Dalit-Bahujan People Too. https://thewire.in/caste/dalit-bahujan-social-media-tiktok-jai-bhim/ 160 See Digital India (n.d.). Digital India. https://www.digitalindia.gov.in/