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The original was posted on /r/worldnews by /u/SwarmingHalo on 2023-09-25 20:09:38.
‘A tool of political control’: how India became the world leader in internet blackouts
Submitted 2 years ago by bot@lemmit.online [bot] to worldnews@lemmit.online
autotldr@lemmings.world [bot] 2 years ago
This is the best summary I could come up with:
But what began as a short internet blackout, justified by the state on the grounds of maintaining law and order, then dragged on for months, wreaking havoc on the livelihoods and economy of the region.
The shutdown created a de facto information blackout about the conflict, leading to the spread of misinformation and a months-long cover up of some of the worst abuses committed in the violence, including gang rapes and beheadings, particularly against the minority Kuki community.
State health, welfare and food subsidy programmes, many of which are entirely digitised, have also been severely affected, further complicating the issue of caring for the 60,000 people who have been displaced by the conflict and are living in makeshift camps.
In July, as communal riots broke out in the state of Haryana after a Hindu nationalist right wing group held a rally, the internet was cut for several days.
The BJP government have justified the internet censorship on a law and order basis, with home minister Amit Shah alleging that in cases such as Kashmir it had “prevented bloodshed” and “saved the children”.
Yet according to experts, this has little basis in evidence and instead they say shutdowns in India have contributed the erosion of freedom of speech and civil liberties under the Modi government, and has even encouraged human rights abuses and violence, away from the watchful eye of the online ecosystem, while shielding the state from accountability for any failures.
The original article contains 1,422 words, the summary contains 241 words. Saved 83%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!