New Delhi: The Manipur government on Thursday (June 15) extended the ban on internet services in the state for another five days. The government has been issuing repeated orders to keep internet services down since May 3, when ethnic violence first erupted in the state.
“…there is apprehension that some anti-social elements might use social media extensively for transmission of images, hate speech and hate video messages inciting the passions of the public which might have serious repercussions for the law and order situation,” the order reads, adding, “…there is imminent danger of loss of life and/or damage to public/private property”.
The internet shutdown order issued on June 15.
Last Friday, the Supreme Court had refused an urgent hearing for petitions against the ongoing internet shutdown in the state. Chongtham Victor Singh, a lawyer in the Manipur High Court, and Mayengbam James, a businessman, had said in their petition that the shutdown was preventing the general public from carrying out any trade or occupation and depriving them of exercising their constitutionally derived freedom of speech and expression.
There has been a “significant economic, humanitarian, social and psychological impact” on the lives of people in Manipur due to the internet ban, the petitioners had argued. “Children have been unable to attend school. People have not been able to access funds from banks, receive payments from clients, distribute salaries or communicate via email or WhatsApp,” they had submitted to the court.
Governments in India are infamous for shutting down internet services. In a recent report, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) scrutinised India’s record as the world’s internet shutdown capital. It found that the internet shutdowns impact people’s rights to food, work, education and health, are enabled by the Indian state and law, and run contrary to India’s international legal obligations.