India experienced heightened internet censorship during or in the run-up to Lok Sabha elections 2024, as per Top10VPN’s Cost of Internet Shutdown Tracker. While the website ranked India at the top in terms of election-related internet interference, the country ranked fourth in terms of total cost of shutdowns in the entire year at $236.7 million. In 2023, Top10VPN had reported the total cost of internet restrictions to be $585.4 million.

According to the live tracker website, “While much of the internet censorship we documented was too targeted to be included in our financial analysis, large-scale internet shutdowns surrounding elections have still cost an estimated $358.3 million to date.”

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India and Taiwan were the only countries to restrict election content on social media platforms, said Top10VPN. Meanwhile, censorship monitoring organisation Access Now said that India “maintained its inglorious position as the world’s leading perpetrator of shutdowns.” It observed disruption of internet services in Bihar’s Saran district, during the general elections. Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) was invoked in Jammu and Kashmir to ban the use of VPNs in the Rajouri district, for a whole month in the lead up to elections.

Further, digital advocacy group SFLC.in’s internet shutdown tracker recorded 60 internet shutdowns by the end of 2024. While the number of reactive shutdowns increased in the country from 14 incidents in 2023 to 27 incidents in 2024, the number of preventive shutdowns decreased from 81 incidents in 2023 to 33 incidents in 2024.

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Regarding such actions by the government this year, Rajya Sabha MP Golla Baburao asked whether the government conducted any study to assess the impact of internet shutdowns and their efficacy in dealing with public safety. In response, the Ministry of Communications said that the government has not conducted any such study.

“The contribution of internet for the well-being of citizens has to be balanced with the need to prevent misuse by anti-social elements requiring temporary suspensions of internet services as per the Telecommunications (Temporary Suspension of Services) Rules, 2024. The competent authority must first explore all reasonable alternatives to address the public emergency and public safety concerns before issuing an order for the temporary suspension of internet services. If such a suspension is deemed necessary, then the suspension order must be published clearly stating the reason and be limited to defined geographical area and specified duration,” said Minister of State for Communications Chandra S. Pemmasani.

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Last year in the State of the Economy podcast, Anirudh Tagat, Research Author, Department of Economics, Monk Prayogshala, had spoken to businessline about the impact of internet shutdowns on businesses, particularly on startups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Tagat had explained how shutdowns prevent online sales, customer interaction, and other core operations.