IFF writes to the officers of the Rajasthan Government expressing concerns about the unlawful, unnecessary, disproportionate and improperly ordered internet shutdowns on September 26, 2021, purportedly ordered to prevent cheating in the Rajasthan Eligibility Exam for Teachers 2021.
Between September 7 and 9, 2021, internet services were suspended in four districts of Haryana due to ongoing farmers’ protests. The order is not available on the Government websites and does not lay out a factual justification. We wrote to the Haryana government to officially publish all orders.
We addressed a letter to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology, travelling to Jammu & Kashmir (J&K). The letter highlighted that the government was shutting down the internet in J&K without complying with the Supreme Court’s directions in Anuradha Bhasin vs Union of India.
Since August 15, 2021, internet services have been suspended in four districts of Meghalaya due to ongoing civil unrest. We wrote to the Meghalaya government to publish all orders related to the current internet shutdowns as well as proactively publish any subsequent internet shutdown orders.
In May 2021 the Government of J&K suspended internet services on three occasions, without promptly publishing suspensions orders. Foundation of Media Professionals has addressed a legal notice to the Government of J&K asking them to comply with directions of the Supreme Court in Anuradha Bhasin.
We wrote to the Rajasthan Government expressing concerns about unauthorised government officials imposing internet shutdowns and lack of periodic review and proactive publication of internet shutdown orders.
No citizen of a democracy should have to suffer through what the people of Jammu & Kashmir experienced and we will keep pushing for broader internet shutdown reform.
IFF along with FSMI and SFLC.in raises alarm about the use of internet shutdowns to undermine the fundamental right to peaceful protest. Such internet shutdowns will only increase the risk of violence and misinformation and they cannot be considered necessary or proportionate.
Read more about RTI work for the month of January, 2021.
In this monthly series, we aim to provide information about how our RTI work is carried out and utilised to demand transparency and accountability from public authorities.