The description of India by the economist Joan Robinson also applies to Digital India: “Whatever you can say about India, the opposite is also true.”
On the one hand, according to Statista, India ranks second in the world in terms of active internet users, and also has the second-largest social media user base. On the other hand, India has imposed the maximum number of internet shutdowns for five years in a row, depriving millions of connectivity. We are at the forefront of the development and deployment of cutting-edge technology. This includes efforts related to 5G infrastructure and even 6G system prototypes. And yet, hundreds of millions in India are still trapped in the 2G era. Part of our population exalts the country’s leadership in the development of a unique digital ID and its benefits for citizens, while the other rightly lambasts Aadhaar for its disproportionate harms, including the damage to people’s privacy and decreased access to services owing to infrastructural gaps. This includes the inability to get basic ration because Aadhaar cannot be authenticated in the midst of an internet shutdown, and to make UPI payments for which Aadhaar serves as a bedrock, connectivity is a prerequisite.
As the architecture for Digital India takes shape, the G20 Summit in New Delhi this week will risk perpetuating this image of an India coloured by contradictions, and therefore uncertainty, unless a commitment is made to refrain from intentionally disrupting access to the internet and communications services. There is, in fact, a basis for this in the discussions of the G20 Digital Economy Working Group (G20 DEWG) this year, and India’s position around other international intergovernmental summits like the G7.
According to the report of the Keep It On coalition and Access Now, India is the only G20 country to have shut down the internet more than twice (84 times) in 2022. In 2023, India’s presidency of the G20 summit, and the emphasis on all things digital, telecom and internet, is therefore an opportunity to commit to change and showcase leadership, both for its own people and foreign governments.
Over four meetings, the G20 DEWG led discussions on various priority areas, including Digital Public Infrastructure, with inclusion as a dominant theme, and topics such as “Digital Inclusion — Connecting the Unconnected”. Conspicuously, there has been no categorical reference to the frequent suspension of internet services in India, which is directly at odds with the tone of these conversations. The principles and recommendations that have been agreed upon would most certainly be undercut in the absence of a commitment to unhampered internet access.
The outcome document of the G20 DEWG suggests the principle of inclusivity to eliminate barriers and “enable inclusion, empowerment of end-users, last-mile access”. It highlights human rights, and suggests an approach that “respects human rights at every stage of the planning, designing, building, and operating”. The document also recognises that the availability and accessibility of high-quality digital connectivity are critical. Further, India has signed MoUs with four countries on sharing India Stack, described as digital solutions implemented at population scale, including digital ID, digital payments, and data management.
Civil society and other stakeholders, including UN Special Rapporteurs have consistently demonstrated that internet shutdowns are disproportionate measures that violate human rights, including the right to free expression. They contribute to unemployment, put a dent in the economy amounting to thousands of crores of rupees and are not demonstrably effective for achieving the stated objectives of curbing violence. It follows then, that in order to be human rights-centric, bridge connectivity gaps, enable inclusion and empowerment of users and last-mile access — all goals within the G20 DEWG outcome document — India’s digital dreams must be backed by a commitment to not hit the kill switch. Without this, India will remain an outlier among the world’s major democracies. We cannot meaningfully set an example of leadership in digital public infrastructure, and effectively promise to enhance access to pioneering technologies in other countries, when our own people are often, and inexplicably, deprived of such access. This would clearly amount to double standards.
In 2021, India signed the G7 “open societies” joint statement condemning “politically motivated shutdowns”. It is worth noting that an earlier version of the statement, signed only by the G7 countries, did not include the “politically motivated” qualifier. India’s unenviable track record of internet shutdowns has been a point of contention for international organisations — many of which participated in the G20 meetings — and other democratic regions, including the US and the EU.
Two years since the small step taken in 2021, albeit with no significant follow through, as the country’s presidency of the G20 summit draws to a close, India must leap ahead and commit to proscribing internet shutdowns to tangibly catapult towards its ambitions of digital growth and global leadership. This move would truly give Digital India the characteristics used by the government at the final meeting of the G20 DEWG to describe its priority areas, and transform them from mere adjectives to foundational elements of our digital journey: inclusive, decisive, ambitious, and action-oriented.
The writer is Asia Pacific Policy Counsel at Access Now
