Pandemic and internet

Pandemic and internet

We are already in lockdown 4.0 and 4G services remain suspended in Jammu and Kashmir even after 10 months. Medical fraternity and doctors have been pleading with authorities for the restoration of 4G services in order to take care of patients suffering from COVId-19 and other diseases.

Now international Human Rights Group has written to WHO, highlighting the issue of low speed internet in Jammu and Kashmir. The 4G services were suspended on August 5 last year when the BJP government revoked special status of Jammu and Kashmir.

Currently, high speed internet on mobiles phones – on which the majority of users in J-K depend upon – continues to be restricted to slow speed. The J-K administration has cited national security as reasons for the restrictions and further defended the same stating that the slow speed had no impact on access to education or information.

Despite repeated appeals from various rights groups and healthcare collectives, the authorities have not restored the high-speed internet in Kashmir, as the coronavirus pandemic sweeps the region.

The letter written on behalf of the #KeepItOn coalition – a global network of more than 210 grassroots advocacy groups across seventy-five countries, working to end internet shutdowns globally – has stated that the pandemic “amplifies the need for access to universal, resilient, open, secure, and affordable access to information and communications technologies for all”.

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