India

Overview

Despite its designation as the world’s largest democracy, India does employ legal and technological tactics to limit online content, particularly extremist and pornographic websites. The country’s Internet penetration rate remains low, but it still houses the third-largest Internet user base in the world. Internet use is concentrated in urban areas, where people primarily use Internet for email and social networking. Rural users face barriers of awareness that the Internet exists, infrastructure that facilitates Internet access, and lack of online content in their native languages.

Access

About 13 percent of Indians use the Internet, which in the world’s second most populous nation still means more than 150 million people. Only China and the United States house more Internet users. Most users access the Internet through cybercafes, and broadband and home Internet access remain low. Only 1 percent of Internet users have fixed broadband connections and only 3 percent have home Internet access, similar to home access levels in Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Haiti. Mobile phone penetration in India is much higher at 72 percent, and six in ten Internet users surf the web only via their mobile devices. Internet use is concentrated in urban areas, and the Indian government has committed about $4 billion to build a national broadband network to connect 250,000 villages. Lack of awareness of the Internet’s existence contributes to low usage, with 78 percent of non-users saying they don’t know about the Internet.

Control

Despite its constitutional guarantees of freedom of speech and expression, India uses legal and technological means to restrict some content. The government does not persecute bloggers, but writers tread carefully when discussing religion, connections between government and organized crime, Kashmiri separatism, or threats from Pakistan. India’s IT Act, which regulates Internet activity, outlaws online publication of obscene material. Amendments to the act expanded the government’s ability to block content and imposed a three-year imprisonment on those who send “offensive information through communication service[s].” Many believe the latter provision is unconstitutional. Despite criticism, the government does require ISPs to block some websites, typically extremist sites and pornography. Research from the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab uncovered ISP filtering of music and movie file sharing sites and blogging platforms, though inconsistently.

Activity

Internet users spend between 20 and 25 hours online per month, far lower than users in China and Malaysia. The most popular websites in India include Google, Facebook, YouTube, and Yahoo. Those in urban areas primarily use the Internet for email (89 percent) and social networking (71 percent). Sixty-four percent search educational content, 55 percent chat, and 49 percent find entertainment. In rural areas, finding entertainment is the most popular online activity (46 percent), followed by email (38 percent), general search (29 percent) and educational search (27 percent.) India’s linguistic diversity restricts how much information people can access online. Various Indian-language Wikipedia pages have seen growth in the past year, especially those in Assamese, Punjabi, Kannada, and Odia.

About 13 percent of Indians use the Internet, which in the world’s second most populous nation still means more than 150 million people. Only China and the United States house more Internet users. Most users access the Internet through cybercafes, and broadband and home Internet access remain low. Only 1 percent of Internet users have fixed broadband connections and only 3 percent have home Internet access, similar to home access levels in Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Haiti. Mobile phone penetration in India is much higher at 72 percent, and six in ten Internet users surf the web only via their mobile devices. Internet use is concentrated in urban areas, and the Indian government has committed about $4 billion to build a national broadband network to connect 250,000 villages. Lack of awareness of the Internet’s existence contributes to low usage, with 78 percent of non-users saying they don’t know about the Internet.

Despite its constitutional guarantees of freedom of speech and expression, India uses legal and technological means to restrict some content. The government does not persecute bloggers, but writers tread carefully when discussing religion, connections between government and organized crime, Kashmiri separatism, or threats from Pakistan. India’s IT Act, which regulates Internet activity, outlaws online publication of obscene material. Amendments to the act expanded the government’s ability to block content and imposed a three-year imprisonment on those who send “offensive information through communication service[s].” Many believe the latter provision is unconstitutional. Despite criticism, the government does require ISPs to block some websites, typically extremist sites and pornography. Research from the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab uncovered ISP filtering of music and movie file sharing sites and blogging platforms, though inconsistently.

Internet users spend between 20 and 25 hours online per month, far lower than users in China and Malaysia. The most popular websites in India include Google, Facebook, YouTube, and Yahoo. Those in urban areas primarily use the Internet for email (89 percent) and social networking (71 percent). Sixty-four percent search educational content, 55 percent chat, and 49 percent find entertainment. In rural areas, finding entertainment is the most popular online activity (46 percent), followed by email (38 percent), general search (29 percent) and educational search (27 percent.) India’s linguistic diversity restricts how much information people can access online. Various Indian-language Wikipedia pages have seen growth in the past year, especially those in Assamese, Punjabi, Kannada, and Odia.