Past

Regional shutdown

Rajasthan

The Regional Commissioner Bhawar Lal Meena ordered Internet services to be suspended in several districts of Rajasthan, India, on 7 January from 10:00 to 15:00 local time to prevent malpractices surrounding the Rajasthan Public Service Commission (RPSC) examination. According to one report, 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G Internet services, along with SMS, MMS, WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media services, were suspended. As we have repeatedly written about on Pulse, Internet shutdowns cause great harm to a country’s economy and society and are, in our opinion, NOT the appropriate mechanism to cope with potential exam cheating.

Start 7 January 2024 10:00 a.m.
End 7 January 2024 3:00 p.m.
Total Duration 5 hours

India

Population: 1,438,069,596

Freedom House rates Internet freedom as Partly Free

View full country profile for India

Local impact

Other supporting information

It’s difficult to measure the effect of local/regional Internet shutdowns as most measurements are done at a country level.

Social media

Again, internet is shut in Jaipur. Reason : to prevent cheating in exams. Internet shutdowns so casual that Rajasthan records most internet shutdowns than any other state in India in recent years. That too in the touristy state and in the age where entire economy is functioning… pic.twitter.com/AmkYouCtnd— Anurag Minus Verma (@confusedvichar) January 7, 2024

Shutdown history

26shutdowns in the last 12 months
408 shutdowns since 2019
83,868 shutdown hours since 2019

View as a list