According to a study at the Stanford University, approximately half of the world’s known network shutdowns have happened in India alone, mostly in Kashmir, reported News18.
According to the study, India has witnessed 134 internet shutdowns in 2018 alone and more than 100 in 2016-17 with most of these blackouts happening in Kashmir region aimed to control the ‘spread of rumours, misinformation and restore law and order.’
However, according to a study at the Stanford University titled, “Of Blackouts and Bandhs: The Strategy and Structure of Disconnected Protest in India” the shutdowns do not seem to be meeting their intention. the report said.
The study found that approximately half of the world’s known network shutdowns have happened in India alone, mostly in Kashmir. “A cursory look at the trajectory of shutdowns in India shows that the northern border states have acted as ‘innovators’ and shutdown contagion has advanced south with time,” reads the research.
These shutdowns are measures of deliberate action by the authorities and are imposed by the state governments who find it “useful in pacifying or preventing protest”, the study says, supporting its arguments with strong empirical evidence.
The 2016 unrest in Kashmir gave the state its longest internet shutdown, which lasted for 203 days. In India, the number and diversity of both protests and network shutdowns affect life and livelihood deeply.
The study, hence, maintains that “widespread institutional support makes India the most shutdown-prone sovereign state in the world by several orders of magnitude”.
Recently, Facebook has told its moderators to “look out for” the phrase “Free Kashmir” on its platform “urging moderators to apply extra scrutiny” on such posts.
The report, Inside Facebook’s Secret Rulebook for Global Political Speech, while giving details of content moderation in many parts of world, reveals that a guideline slide says that “Indian law prohibits calls for an independent Kashmir” and “instructs moderators to “look out for” the phrase “Free Kashmir.”
Facebook says it is simply urging moderators to apply extra scrutiny to posts that use the phrase, the report quotes. “Still, even this could chill activism in Kashmir. And it is not clear that the distinction will be obvious to moderators, who are warned that ignoring violations could get Facebook blocked in India.”
Recently, The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of opinion and expression David Kaye had written a letter to Twitter CEO regarding the blocking of Twitter handles of Kashmiris and blocking users for sharing or posting Kashmir related content.
Both the social media giants, Facebook and Twitter have been blocking Kashmir related content lately. Recently, Facebook has, once again, censored Kashmir related content by taking down prominent page, ‘Lost Kashmiri History’, which documents past historical events, from its portal.
In a similar incident, in October, Facebook removed online Kashmir-based magazine, Wande Magazine’s page from its portal.
In the post, the founder, Irfan Mehraj, who is also the editor of the magazine, stated that, while logging into the website at 7 PM IST, he had received a notification that the magazine’s page ‘went against Facebook’s community standards’ and had been thus removed from the site.
He also said that he had been blocked by Facebook from his personal page for posting or sharing information for 24 hours. “I was not able to like, comment, share and respond to messages owing to this ban,” he wrote.
Recently, the Facebook page of Free Press Kashmir was unpublished by the social media platform for nearly 48 hours.
Recently, Facebook took down news portal Kashmir Walla’s video featuring scholar-turned-militant Mannan Wani’s father’s voice in the background.
