Right to Internet

Right to Internet

I have internet and that's not a small thing to have because there are 60% of people in the world who don't have right to the internet and if we look at at least developed countries only 1 out of 10 people have internet access. Along with this, there are many countries that don't allow their citizens to access specific content, they restrict it to do so. But in today's generation, no development is possible without digitalization. 

So, looking at the suppressive tactics of the governments, in 2016, UNHRC said that the Right To the Internet should be made a fundamental right. Many years back, they asked for a new right to become a fundamental right which was the Right To Education. 

So now let's talk about India. In the past 10 years, there were around 400 Internet shutdowns in India, and if we talk about the past 1 year, there were 109 instances of internet disruptions out of 155 internet disruptions in the world. On 4th Aug 2019 when the Indian parliament revoked Article 370 from the constitution and separated the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories i.e Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. For maintaining security, the government imposed section 144 which prohibits the assembly of more than 5 peoples along with this they did an Internet Shutdown and this shutdown becomes the longest internet shutdown in India.

So due to security concerns, on 4th Aug 2019, the internet services of J&k was suspended and it gets restored after 213 days i.e on 4th March 2020 and that's why it becomes the longest shutdown of the country between these two dates there was 3 important judgment's made which in future decides the new right of the nation, Right to the Internet.

In today's blog, we will discuss these 3 important cases- 

1st case is of Faheema Shirin R.K. v. State of Kerala. In this Faheema Shirin who is a college student, in their girl's hostel there was a rule that they are not allowed to use cell phones between 6 to10 opposing this restriction of the hostel this case was filed in front of Justice P V Asha single judge bench of the Kerala high court keeping in mind the learning process and development of the students, this court produced an important judgment and said that Right To Access Internet is a fundamental right and it was added with Art.21 of the constitution i.e Right to privacy and Right to Access Internet was added in relation with Right to Education. So this was the case of Faheema Shirin.

2nd case is Anuradha Bhasin v. Union of India. Now, this case directly relates to Jammu and Kashmir. This case was filed on 10th January, in which the internet ban was challenged, which was imposed on 4th August 2019. They said that restricting physical movement along with shutting downing all the mediums of online communication violates fundamental rights given in Article 19 of the constitution as Right to the Internet is a part of Art. 19 (1a). Supreme court said, due to immediate threat or security concern a temporary ban on any services is permissible but for an indefinite period, internet services can't be suspended. The balance should be maintained between national security and human rights.

So after the judgment of 10th January, the lowest speed 2G internet was allowed in J&K but after the case of Anuradha Bhasin, one more case was filed on the court the case was of Foundation of Media Professionals v. Union of India. In this case, the ban on 3G and 4G internet service in J&K was challenged. This case is popularly also known as the 4G case. In this case, they said that such a ban on internet services completely violates the Right to Education, Right to Profession, Right to Health, and many fundamental rights. The Supreme court issued directions to resume 4G services and also set up a committee along with this. After much discussion, the center directed to resume 4G services as a trial basis on limited areas of J&K after 15 Aug. 

So we will cover the whole discussion quickly through this timeline it all started on 4th Aug 2019 when the internet services of J&K got suspended for an indefinite period due to national security concerns. Now come to Sept 2019 the case of Faheema Shirin, in which Kerala the most literate state of India said that the Right to the Internet is a fundamental right. You should also know that the Kerala State government is running a project in which they are providing internet at a subsidized rate to 20 lakh poor families. So this was Faheema Shirin's case. Now we will look at Jan 2020, Anuradha Bhasin's judgment. In this case, the supreme court said that due to immediate threat you can disable services temporarily but an indefinite ban is not at all right and after this case, the 2G services got resumed in J&K. Finally comes the case of Foundation For Media Professionals. In this case, the supreme court said that it is very important to maintain a balance between national interest and human rights, and due to this case 3G and 4G services got resumed in some areas of J&K. 

Earlier UN also said that the right to the internet is a basic human right. Internet is very important in today's life especially in the times of corona. The Internet came out as a great source of knowledge and also for entertainment. The whole education system moved online during the lockdown. Online Classes taken place of physical classes and now people are shifting to online sources. While poor students still can't afford education, the internet has made education cheaper as compared to their physical alternative.

So, Today's discussion was on Right to the Internet we discussed 3 important cases I hope you all liked today's blog and you are using your Right to Internet positively.