New Delhi, Jul 28 (IANS): The internet traffic on Airtel and BSNL in Manipur remained down on May 4 due to inclement weather, cable damage, power outages and other reasons, along with a government-ordered internet shutdown, a new report said on Friday. 

According to the digital infrastructure services provider Cloudflare, traffic on Airtel has remained low and continued to drop further through the end of June, however, traffic on BSNL showed slight signs of recovery starting in early June but remained extremely low.

The second quarter of 2023 was a particularly busy one for Internet disruptions, and especially for government-directed Internet shutdowns.

The report observed partial or complete outages due to severe weather, cable damage, power outages, general or unspecified technical problems, cyberattacks, military action, and infrastructure maintenance, in addition to government-directed Internet shutdowns.

Internet shutdowns are unfortunately frequent in India, with digital rights organisation Access Now reporting at least 84 shutdowns within the country in 2022.

The shutdowns are generally implemented at a more local level and often last for a significant amount of time, the report said.

Such shutdown took place in Manipur starting on May 3 after the escalation of ethnic conflict, and was reportedly intended to "thwart the design and activities of anti-national and anti-social elements… by stopping the spread of disinformation and false rumours" and the likelihood of "serious disturbances to the entire peaceful coexistence of the communities and maintenance of public order", according to the report.

Mobile data services were initially suspended for five days, with the suspension being extended every five days through additional templated orders.