"After Amnesty, Human Right Watch asks India to lift internet ban", 3 April 2020

The Human Rights Watch...asked four countries, including India, to immediately lift the restrictions on internet usage and restore data transmission at full speed. The international non-governmental organization said such restrictions violate multiple rights and can be perilous during a health crisis like coronavirus, as per media reports.

The international human rights body, in a statement, said: “Governments that are currently imposing an internet shutdown, such as Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, and Myanmar, should lift them immediately to save lives. Intentionally shutting down or restricting access to the internet violates multiple rights and can be deadly during a health crisis such as the Covid-19 pandemic.”

India had the most internet shutdown with at least 385 such instances since 2012.

...The New York- based international institution also said that the Covid-19 infected people in the country have reported not being able to access websites for information about the pandemic due to highly restricted internet speed that makes accessing anything beyond text messages nearly impossible.

The statement came after Amnesty International appealed to India on similar lines...