- Thursday, March 06, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
Opposition parties in India such as the Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI(M) and Trinamool Congress (TMC) have slammed prime minister Narendra Modi over his claims at the just concluded G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, that the South Asian country was making digital access public, alleging that it shuts internet connectivity more than any other country.
On Wednesday (16), Modi said that India was making digital access public but there was still a “huge digital divide” at the international level.
Digital use can bring scale, speed and transparency into governance, the prime minister added.
“Despite promoting a more digitally connected India, the @BJP4India Govt. shuts down internet more often than any country. The digital divide still persists, making remote learning an operational nightmare. And digital authoritarianism continues to thwart freedom of expression,” the TMC led by Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of the eastern Indian state of West Bengal and one of the country’s fiercest critics of Modi, said in a tweet from its official handle on Thursday (17).
It said the saffron party’s alleged abuse of technology would not be highlighted by the prime minister.
CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, in a tweet on Wednesday, highlighted how India was the leader in internet shutdowns for the fourth consecutive year.
“India is the internet shutdown capital of the world since 2015 and over half of Indians have no access to Internet,” he said.
[With PTI inputs]
