As concerns increase in India about the increasing number of shutdowns, Nakul Nayak has authored a paper with a legal analysis of the legal regime on it (click here). Nakul consults as a legal fellow at the Internet Freedom Foundation on online censorship concentrating on online shutdowns and his analysis confirms that the new rules on internet shutdowns issued in August, 2018 are secretive in their operation, lack sufficient safeguards or oversight by an empowered review committee.
Attempting an administrative law analysis, he proposes reforms commencing from the whole-scale constitutionality of the rules (as previously argued by him) to the insertion of a sunset clause. This paper attempts through a legal analysis to consolidate and build on the growing policy literature on internet shutdowns in India to disclose several conceptual and practical problems arising out of the text and practice of the Suspension Rules.
Our previous work on keeping India online
We have been working hard on the growing problem of internet shutdowns. From launching an online campaign that gathered close to 16,000 signatures and 100+ supporting organisations, to filing RTIs and engaging in public writing and advocacy. Read more on some of our recent work.
About IFF Research Series
The IFF Research Series supports young academics, scholars, technologists and researchers to author rigorous analysis and papers on pressing digital rights issues in India. Such work is being funded by public donations by ordinary internet users such as you to help understand and advocate for free expression, privacy and encryption, net neutrality and innovation. We will put all our papers up for review and comment on SSRN and invite any feedback at [email protected]