India's Internet Disruptions Surge In Q2 2023: Report
A latest report highlighted the impact of government-directed internet shutdowns and other factors such as severe weather, cyberattacks, and infrastructure maintenance that caused a surge in internet disruptions in India in Q2 2023.
During the second quarter of 2023, India experienced a significant rise in internet disruptions, with government-directed shutdowns being a major contributing factor. These shutdowns were frequently implemented at a local level and had prolonged durations, leading to significant disruptions in Internet services, as per a Cloudflare report.
Digital rights organisation Access Now previously reported that India witnessed at least 84 Internet shutdowns within the country in 2022, and this trend continued to persist in Q2 2023.
One notable instance mentioned in the report was the Internet shutdown in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, which commenced on 3 May 2023, following an escalation of ethnic conflict. Authorities stated that the shutdown aimed to curb the spread of disinformation and false rumors that could have led to disturbances and jeopardised public order. The shutdown began with the suspension of mobile data services, initially planned for a five-day period. However, it was repeatedly extended through additional templated orders issued every five days.
Courtesy: Cloudflare
Courtesy: Cloudflare
The impact of the government-ordered shutdown on two major network providers, AS45609 (Airtel) and AS9829 (BSNL), was evident in Cloudflare's observations. Traffic from both providers experienced a sharp decline around 6 pm IST on 4 May 2023. While Airtel's traffic remained persistently low and continued to decrease further until the end of June, BSNL showed slight signs of recovery starting in early June, though its traffic remained at extremely low levels.
Despite the passing of two months since the commencement of the Manipur shutdown, the order remains in place as of the time of this report, late July 2023.
In addition to government-directed shutdowns, India also faced other challenges that affected Internet connectivity during the quarter. Severe weather, cable damage, power outages, general technical problems, cyberattacks, military action and infrastructure maintenance were among the factors that contributed to partial or complete Internet outages.
