India’s Internet Freedom Score Improves Marginally After Four Years Of Decline

Amid a slew of regulatory pressures concerning data and internet freedom, US-based NGO Freedom House has stated that India’s internet freedom score has improved by two points, reaching 51 in the global ranking. India’s score was 49  in 2021.

The improvement, as suggested by Freedom House, has been supported by a reduced digital divide in the country as well as the reduction in internet shutdowns both in frequency and intensity. Judicial interventions against internet restrictions also contributed to the improvement.

The NGO further added that increasing pushback on the government from social media giants, under public pressure, further contributed to the uptick in the Internet Freedom score. 

Besides, there were no (or minor) technical attacks on news outlets, government critics or civil society, or laws imposing punishment or directive in censorship – another supporting factor for the period between June 2021 and May 2022. 

The report stated that the internet was ‘partly free’ in the country and that progress in the ‘swing state’ could ensure the survival of a free and open internet or they could join authoritarian powers in promoting cyber sovereignty.

It is here to be noted that, the ban on several Chinese-backed platforms such as TikTok and WeChat coupled with a new regulation for VPNs put India’s internet freedom on the backpedal.

The Indian government is among the top countries in creating a regulatory environment for internet access within the country. Among a slew of regulations, the most recent one was the law mandating all VPNs to collect and hold user data for up to five years – a contravention to the meaning of VPNs.

The government has also started the process of regulating communication apps such as WhatsApp, Telegram and Signal and formulating a regulatory framework to oversee such apps.

Further, the government recently also pulled down the data protection and privacy bill with plans to bring forth the Digital India Act to govern and regulate the India stack and the emerging digital landscape in the country. 

The report surveyed countries across the world, and China was the worst among internet freedom providers while Iceland ranked at the top. The United States of America was also among the top 15 countries that ranked green in terms of internet freedom, improving its rank for the first time in six years. It was Russia that saw the sharpest decline, post the Russian war on Ukraine.

Among the continents, most countries with internet freedom were within Europe and the least within Africa.