Repressive connectivity and digital resistance: internet shutdowns, speech and networked counterpublics in Manipur.
This article examines the 2023 internet shutdown in Manipur, India, as a case of repressive connectivity – where digital infrastructures are weaponised to suppress dissent and erase subaltern narratives. Drawing from critical theory, postcolonial media studies, and digital rights scholarship, it ref...
| Publicado en: | Third World Quarterly Vol. 47; no. 8; pp. 1519 - 1539 |
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| Formato: | Artículo |
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Taylor & Francis Ltd
May2026
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=193599142&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 193599142 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 01436597 TWQ jtl: Third World Quarterly issn: 01436597 maglogo: Y pubinfo: dt: May2026 vid: 47 iid: 8 pid: 377 pub: Taylor & Francis Ltd artinfo: ui: 193599142 10.1080/01436597.2025.2600560 ppf: 1519 ppct: 20 formats: tig: atl: Repressive connectivity and digital resistance: internet shutdowns, speech and networked counterpublics in Manipur. aug: au: Irungbam, Satish affil: Department of Political Science, University of Delhi, Delhi, India su: Manipur (India) India Political opposition Ethnic conflict Censorship Internet censorship Internet in public administration sug: subj: Political opposition Ethnic conflict Censorship Manipur (India) India Internet censorship Internet in public administration keyword: counterpublics digital resistance epistemic violence Internet shutdowns Manipur repressive connectivity surveillance counterpublics digital resistance epistemic violence Internet shutdowns Manipur repressive connectivity surveillance ab: This article examines the 2023 internet shutdown in Manipur, India, as a case of repressive connectivity – where digital infrastructures are weaponised to suppress dissent and erase subaltern narratives. Drawing from critical theory, postcolonial media studies, and digital rights scholarship, it reframes shutdowns not as isolated technical events but as acts of epistemic violence and infrastructural control. In conflict-prone contexts like Manipur, internet shutdowns fragment solidarity, mute resistance and reinforce state power. Yet paradoxically, they also provoke adaptive forms of digital and analogue resistance, from encrypted messaging and cultural expression to legal mobilisation and counterpublic formation. By analysing testimonies, case studies and platform dynamics, the article situates shutdowns within broader structures of algorithmic governance and surveillance capitalism. It argues that such acts of repression generate new modes of political agency and epistemic struggle. Ultimately, the study calls for a rethinking of connectivity, sovereignty and rights in postcolonial digital regimes. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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