As I’m writing this piece to give vent to mutual exasperation, all of my colleagues — working journalists and media professionals based in Ukhrul town — are eagerly awaiting the next date of court hearing scheduled on August 31, 2023 that will follow a two weeks’ time set by the Manipur High Court for the state government to find ways to restore mobile internet services in the riot-torn state.
In a recent hearing, a division bench of the High Court had reportedly directed the state authorities to work out mechanism to restore mobile internet services by whitelisting mobile numbers on a case-to-case basis and in a phase-wise manner. As per media reports, the state’s council told the HC during the last hearing that physical trial was conducted with regard to restoration of internet services through mobile phones by whitelisting certain numbers. Internet service providers have also submitted a report regarding the trial, stating that “there’s no data leakage to any other numbers which are not whitelisted.”
The current ban on internet, especially mobile or cellular internet services is now in its fourth month since it was imposed across the state on May 3 following the outbreak of communal unrest in certain parts of the state. In the beginning, the ban was notified for five days and got extended every five days, but after it stretched to one month, two months, and three months, we lost track of it literally. All we know is that it has become the longest-ever internet blackout in the state’s history.
One is aware that the move was taken by the state government in its attempt to quell the unrest situation and curtail the spread of potential misinformation and rumours that were believed to be escalating tensions in the state. In other words, everyone understands the state government’s logic behind the running ban which is believed to have served its purpose in checking further violence, to some extent, in the affected areas. And thus, it goes without saying that this move was necessity-driven.
However, one does feel that there seems to be something amiss with the state government’s actions that have conveniently cut the common people’s woes out of the larger picture. The way the government gave it a broad brushstroke and imposed a blanket ban is a little hard to digest. Many people here in Ukhrul feel that the Government should think beyond the “one size fits all” approach when it comes to internet restrictions to curb violence.
Perhaps there are some alternate ways to quell disinformation and rumours, because a blanket ban has done more harm than good for the people, especially in Ukhrul. In the recent communal flare-ups in Haryana, internet shutdown was imposed only in the affected areas like Nuh and some other districts and not the entire parts of the state.
This brings us to a pertinent question: was a state-wide information blockade absolutely necessary to contain unrest in some parts of the state? Chief Minister N. Biren Singh himself had also gone on record, stating that the conflicts actually occurred in only three/four districts. If this really is the case, we feel that the state government may consider exempting the rest of the districts.
This is especially true of Ukhrul district which has been unaffected by the current conflicts and remained calm and peaceful so far. The lack of access to the internet for a prolonged period has left the populace of the district from all walks of life — from students to businessmen to professionals — in a very dire situation, unable to access online services and engage with the rest of the world. In fact, it has cut off access to basic services such as online marketplaces, skill training, education, BPO and home based jobs and other important services. It has also impeded the work of civil society organizations, leaving them unable to effectively reach out to the public and advocate for their good causes.
In this scenario, local journalists and media professionals are seeing the worst of it. That journalists largely depend on mobile internet services for their daily work is a no-brainer, and the continued extension of the ban in the district in spite of a peaceful situation has become a matter of deep concern.
As a journalist, having experienced the distressing working environment firsthand without internet access, I can only ponder if we have been made the proverbial ‘sitting duck’ simply because we are not equipped enough to fend for ourselves. One might consider here, that though the ban was recently lifted for broadband services (internet lease line and fibre to home) on a conditional basis, connections to these services are not feasible at most locations in Ukhrul due to hilly terrain. Moreover, these private facilities can place a considerable financial burden on an individual journalist — considering the meager payments we get for our works each month.
It’s no exaggeration to say that the prolonged internet shutdown for the last three months has left local journalists languishing in despair. In an age where modern technologies are fast changing the way people live and work, depriving basic internet services is hampering journalists’ fundamental right to work, not to mention impingement on individual rights of the public.
As far as the current internet shutdown is concerned, Ukhrul district is believed to be among the worst affected districts, where there is no other place local journalists can access the internet except the government-run National Informatics Centre (NIC), District Information Technology (DIT) and Common Service Centre (CSC) offices for which we obtained due official permission from the Deputy Commissioner.
Unfortunately, weak Wi-Fi connection speed plays a spoilsport. The strength of the internet connection/Wi-Fi is getting weaker by the day due to an overflow of users, many of whom are students and other working professionals. This proves it a challenge for these offices to provide the best possible services. On numerous occasions, we have to wait for hours in order to gain access to a prime connection speed that will allow us to dispatch our reports. This is one reason for occasional delays in reporting as well.
From accessing information to staying connected with sources, the simplest of tasks have become an Augean task without internet access. This has got in the way of news gathering, researches, fact-checking and report filing, all of which are integral to our job. Our work takes even longer to finish which also means having to either sit for longer hours or compromising quality of work.
Connecting with sources is another challenge for journalists in the absence of an internet access. Many a time, people find it convenient to connect and discuss things over the internet or over the phone than in person. This is especially true for journalists who often try to contact or stay in touch with sources from remote areas that can share breaking news details and relevant photos via WhatsApp rather than the reporters having to travel into their places (which is not possible in many cases). One of my female colleagues, who works for a digital news organisation, said that she has become prone to miss breaking news over the last three months of mobile internet ban. “Most of the time breaking news or bits of vital information that could lead to interesting stories are accessed via mobile internet. But this hassle-free access to basic information is missing without the internet,” she said.
What makes it even more challenging for us is the distance from our homes (most of us live in the town’s peripheries) to the district mini-secretariat building that houses the NIC, DIT and CSC offices. So, we have to catch a taxi or walk a long distance up steep slopes, and that too, braving the inclement weather and the muddy roads, in order to get to the DMS. There were also times when we went on a tiresome coverage trip to some remote villages and had to hurry back to the DMS to send our reports before the staff leave their offices. Moreover, we have to work in cramped conditions just to get our job done. The officials of NIC, DIT and CSC allow us to use the video conference room but whenever there’s a meeting going on in the VC room which happens every day, we have to cram into any available spaces in the office chambers. They remain jam-packed with visitors on most working days.
This reminds me of the days before smartphones and their prevalence in the district. It was only around the later part of the 2010s when smartphones really started to take off here, if my memory serves me right. Prior to this, owning a basic solid mobile phone (remember those simple-looking and tough Nokia, Sony Ericson or Motorola make that you first owned?) meant being part of the then emerging tech elite. But those phones did not have the capacity to access the internet. Those were the days when cybercafes were a bustling place and a charm of sort, with people of all ages making a beeline for them.
I recall the days during my short stint with the erstwhile Hueiyen Lanpao (English edition) as a district correspondent around 2014-15, where I would often take a trip to the cybercafes in the town to file my reports. Most of the cafes available then were frequently busy and I had to queue up to use a computer with decent speed. Whenever there was a big rush, the operators had to limit the session of a user to a maximum of one hour. But for all the small troubles of having to wait for my turn or hurry up my task, I had to make frequent trips to the cafes. I had no other options or places to go to get my job done.
In stepped internet-enabled mobile phones or smartphones, and mobile internet has become a game changer in the 21st century and more so in journalism, with it no longer remaining simply a tool of convenience, but one that is becoming essential in a journalist’s everyday work. From finding correct information to connecting with sources, conducting online research, filing stories, and maintaining audiences, mobile internet has become journalists’ best companion.
With the mobile internet snapped for months now, I can almost trace back the bygone days and working environment of the cybercafe era. While certain aspects of working as a journalist over the past 10 years have improved in many ways, it feels like a regression without the internet and I, for one, feel we are going back to the days of ‘pre-smartphone’ journalism.
(This article is republished here with with an alternate title. It was first published in The People’s Chronicle)
