"There is an evolution underway in terms of how Internet access is perceived and understood. The view that Internet access should be a fundamental right has continued to gain traction. At the same time, concerns are increasing about the very real threat of offline harm posed by the dissemination of
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misinformation and hate speech online. This Special Section looks at these tensions within the context of one particularly extreme solution to perceived online threats: shutting off Internet access. While Internet shutdowns have now occurred across nearly all continents, they are on the rise in Africa, where some of the longest shutdowns have taken place. This Special Section brings together authors from law, communications, political science, and human rights to encourage a reevaluation of how we understand Internet shutdowns by reframing how they are situated within a broader landscape of other censorship and infrastructure challenges. The articles in this collection examine the causes and effects of shutdowns in the African context and challenge our current thinking about them." (Abstract)
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"The more undemocratic the system of government, the more likely it is that the Internet will be shut down. To prove this, the authors refer to the annual Democracy Index of the British consulting firm Economist Intelligence Unit of the news magazine of the same name. According to the index, 17 of t
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he 22 states with Internet blocking are classified as "authoritarian". In the states classified as democratic or partially democratic, the governments have refrained from restricting Internet access. According to the study, the longevity in power also plays an important role: Eleven of the 14 African heads of state who have been in power for 13 years or more have at least temporarily switched off the Internet in recent years. These figures aren't really surprising: it's obvious that despots don't fit into the crap of hard-to-control communication platforms on the Internet. According to the study, not only civil society, but also the economy suffers from the Internet barriers: local and national telecommunications providers in the affected countries have made direct losses; in addition, the barriers have frightened off potential investors in the long term." (www.welt-sichten.org, April 9, 2019)
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"State governments in India have executed approximately half of the world’s known network shutdowns – large-scale, deliberate disruptions of Internet connectivity, cell phone service, or social media. India is also a hotbed of collective action with widely varying degrees of organization and coo
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rdination, which are partially determined by the identities of the primary participants. However, no independent assessment of the effects of such information vacuums on the strategy and structure of collective action exists, for India or any other state. In this study, I expand on a previously formulated theory of disconnective action by examining how structural and strategic characteristics affect collective action responses during a network shutdown in an extreme case via statistical analysis. Shutdowns are found to be much more strongly associated with increases in violent collective action than with non-violent mobilization. However, a breakdown of the structure of individual protest events reveals weak effects for both organized and ‘leaderless’ collective action during a shutdown. On the other hand, the co-occurrence of state violence with a shutdown is found to encourage non-violent action. The findings imply that information blackouts compel participants in collective action in India to substitute non-violent tactics for violent ones that are less reliant on effective communication and coordination. At the same time, while they may sometimes disrupt structured and non-violent protest, this effect is highly inconsistent. The analysis creates a precedent for other subnational studies of digital repression and adds to the discussion on extreme means of controlling (dis)information flows online." (Abstract)
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"The statistical study determines that network interferences are more likely to happen at higher rates of expansion of Internet connectivity until a tipping point, suggesting that efforts to extend Internet access in low- and middle-income countries may lead to less overt restrictions. This threshol
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d stands at an annual rate of expansion of about 7 percent. The interviews reveal that individual actors within the digital rights community are seeking more coordinated efforts to resist shutdowns. The interviews are also used to support points made throughout the report. A calculation of the cumulative duration of network disruptions reveals that the Internet and/or social media were disrupted around the world for about 2,500 cumulative days in 2017 alone. Approximately 105 known shutdowns took place that year, surpassing each previous year. The report outlines a broad range of civil and political, as well as economic, cultural, and social rights that are typically impacted by network disruptions, moving beyond the typical focus on freedom of expression, elections, and economic impacts to broaden the arguments and actors discouraging disruptions." (Executive summary)
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"While the State has been justifying network shutdowns as matters of “national interests”, it is interesting to note that the effect has been the total opposite. Interviewees in Kashmir and Darjeeling have stated that their mistrust in the Indian government has grown due to these actions. These
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sentiments must be taken seriously and addressed if the authorities’ intentions are truly to protect the autonomy of the country. Network shutdowns cannot be the knee-jerk reaction of administrations at the slightest sign of social unrest. The potential of social media and the Internet instead needs to be harnessed to address these problems. The State should define “national interest” in lucid terms so citizens and law enforcement officials are on the same page. There should be mechanisms in place to hold the State accountable when these definitions are crossed. Shutdowns exclude entire communities from fully participating in social, political, and economic self-determination. This has been especially true during the prolonged shutdown in Darjeeling in West Bengal. The shutdown left residents feeling even more isolated and excluded from the mainstream. Every step they take towards self-determination has been made more difficult, tedious, and expensive." (Conclusion, page 42)
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"Network shutdowns are usually justified on security grounds, and the counterargument is often framed around the impact on freedom of expression. However, the impacts of network shutdowns can have far-reaching, adverse economic and social implications and could affect future economic growth; further
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more, they can actually endanger the very right it seeks to preserve, the right to life, by denying users the ability to connect to family, health and emergency services. Although the Government of Pakistan faces grave internal threats and serious security situations, concerns that network shutdowns are becoming the go-to tool are growing. More effective strategies to prevent attacks are required. Blunt network shutdowns cannot offer a long-term solution for any country in combatting terrorism or other security threats. ICTs are used by citizens and terrorists alike, but without access to ICTs, law enforcement lose the opportunity to use communications for the purpose of fighting terrorism, and to disseminate important information to move people to safety, or to calm a concerned population." (Conclusion)
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