Contrary to the Government’s promotion of a digitised ecosystem that prioritises the use of the internet and its services under the banner of ‘Digital India’, India has been labelled as the ‘Internet Shutdown Capital’. This label owes its credit to the frequency of internet shutdowns in the country over the past few years. While dependency on the internet has been induced upon the people through incentives by the Government of India, the authority has evidently been swift in depriving the people of utilities provided by the internet. The government has escalated control over the medium to a point where it renders the internet and its services temporarily dysfunctional for the protection of ‘National Security’ and ‘National Interest’ on the mere speculation of emergency. While fulfilling its responsibility to avert situations that threaten national security, the government falls short in preventing the infringement upon an individual’s internet access rights. The ambiguity in the domain provides ample space for arbitrary use of shutdowns as a tool to camouflage any agitation into obscurity merely on flimsy grounds of speculation. The pondering question is whether, in the absence of requisite parameters, such a subjective assessment of a circumstance would adequately justify imposing restriction over internet access to a considerable size of population? Moreover, whether shutting down of the entirety of internet services is justified, when the circumstance demands restriction upon a mere section of such internet services? The paper attempts to argue that while curtailing the escalation of any matter in the name of national security is paramount and justified, it cannot be carried out while there exists a subjective assessment of a circumstance due to lack of defined parameters. The paper argues that the consequences of internet shutdowns, coupled with international recognition of internet access as a basic human right, should prompt India to consider this recognition domestically. The article attempts to put forth that the right to access internet must be recognised and the power to deprive people of internet must be used justifiably and sparingly. Moreover, the shortcomings of the Indian Telecommunication Draft Bill, 2022 are discussed, including the lack of data maintenance, the potential failure of shutdowns to achieve their purpose, ambiguity in the term ‘public emergency’, and the practice of shutting down the entire internet.
