Strategic Disruptions: The Subnational Targeting of Internet Shutdowns in India

• In Event: Global Disinformation & Power

Abstract

Between 2016 and 2021, governments in 74 countries implemented 931 internet shutdowns, revealing a growing trend in the use of "digital repression." Governments often justify these shutdowns as necessary for public safety and applied impartially in response to security threats. This paper explores whether such shutdowns instead follow a logic of targeting the political opponents of incumbents, and how they compare with traditional forms of physical repression. Focusing on India, the country that has enacted the most internet shutdowns in the world, this study examines the geographic and temporal patterns of these shutdowns. The results align with a theory of strategic political targeting as internet shutdowns are predominantly executed in areas with lower electoral support for the ruling party and following partisan violence perpetrated by opposition parties. Additionally, these shutdowns often precede escalations in military violence, suggesting a coordinated use of digital and physical force. This pattern differs significantly from that of physical repression, which does not have the same alignment with partisan or military violence and is in fact more prevalent in areas with stronger ruling party support. These findings reveal that internet shutdowns are a unique and politically motivated tool used by those in power to suppress opposition and facilitate state-sanctioned violence. This tactic represents a shift in certain democratic countries towards methods reminiscent of authoritarian regimes, where the internet is strategically controlled to undermine political adversaries and legitimize state aggression.

Author

• Marika Miner, University of California, Davis