INTERNET SHUTDOWN

Dec. 18, 2019

December 16, 2019 marked the 134th day of the continuing Internet shutdown in Jammu and Kashmir, which began on August 5, the day the erstwhile state was stripped of its special status under Article 370 of the Constitution. This is the longest ever continuous Internet shutdown in the country.

Laws for internet shutdown:

Home Departments in the states are mostly the authorities that enforce shutdowns, drawing powers from The Temporary Suspension of Telecom Services (Public Emergency or Public Safety) Rules, 2017. The central government also has powers under this law, but has not used it.
Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 has enabled many of the shutdowns in the recent past. It gives the District Magistrate or any other executive magistrate empowered by the state government the power to issue orders to “maintain public tranquility”.
Section 5(2) of the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, allows central and state governments to prevent the transmission of messaging during a “public emergency or in the interest of public safety”, or “in the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the state”, etc.

Source : Indian Express