Parliamentary Panel Pulls up DoT on Internet Shutdowns; Asks to Keep Record, Assess its Impact

A Parliamentary panel has pulled up the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) for not maintaining the record of [Internet shutdowns] and inaction on several of its recommendations.

The panel rejected the logic of the DoT and Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for not maintaining the record of the shutdowns, saying it cannot simply take the plea that police and public order are essentially state subjects and suspension of the Internet does not actually come under the ambit of crimes.

"The committee feels that a centralised database of all Internet shutdowns by the states can be maintained either by DoT or MHA on similar lines as maintained by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) in the MHA which is collecting information on certain aspects of crime regularly of which communal riots is one of them," the panel said. 

The panel said that it agrees with the view of the department that social media can be misused by anti-social elements. However, frequent shutdowns of the Internet without any empirical study to prove the effectiveness of Internet shutdowns in controlling law and order, civic unrest, etc. is a "matter of great concern".

VIA The Economic Times, India