India leveraged blackouts to crush farmers protest and Kashmiris, according to digital rights organisation Access Now
APP
March 05, 2021
India topped the list for the most internet shutdowns in 2020 globally for the third consecutive year, a new report by digital rights and privacy organisation Access Now said.
India leveraged blackouts to crush the nationwide farmer’s protest and the Kashmiris, the report said. It pointed out that India shut down the internet more than any other nation at 109 times out of a total of 155, recorded worldwide. India was followed by Yemen with six instances.
According to a new report by Access Now, a global non-profit that works on digital rights and online freedom, around 70% of cases of internet shutdowns globally happened in India in 2020, with shut down of the internet in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) roughly once every two weeks.
India reported the highest number or recorded Internet shutdowns last year, at 109 out of a total of 155 globally. This is the third consecutive year India has topped the global charts on this score, a new report by digital rights and privacy organisation Access Now has found. India was followed by Yemen with at least six shutdowns, Ethiopia with four, and Jordan three. India, Yemen, and Ethiopia had been among the worst disruptors of the internet in 2019, the report said. From Belarus to Bangladesh, authorities in 29 countries shut down or interfered with the internet at least 155 times in 2020, the report, Shattered dreams and lost opportunities: A year in the fight to #KeepItOn, found.