BIJLI, PANI, INTERNET

Despite steep growth in the number of internet users, India still has 670 million unconnected people. “Internet for All” should be the next big target

- AMAN SINGH

Yesterday’s news was consumed over a cup of tea in the morning, maps were still printed on paper, long-distance calls were made only to convey news of a wedding or a death in the family and cameras were what you took with you on a vacation. YOLO and FOMO were not yet words. If, you went to sleep around the time of the millennium bug and like Rip Van Winkle, have just woken up after twenty years, you are unlikely to recognize India.

Almost nothing has been left untouched by the internet. The way we learn, interact with people, buy rail tickets, decide our driving route, order food, watch movies, pay bills, shop, and even how we troll and insult people – everything has been transmogrified. The internet has transformed governance – empowering people with information. It has given wings to microentrepreneurs and start-ups with access to markets and financial services. It has also created scores of internet billionaires. And social media, the internet on steroids, has consumed almost everyone who is online.

Like with any other powerful tool, the internet too has its underbelly – it has given us deepfakes, cybercrime, and the dark web. It has caused the death of children obsessing over online games. It may have made the world a little more insular. It has most certainly led to mental health and self-esteem issues from the endless barrage of others’ happiness being chronicled on social media. Some have to resort to social media de-addiction and digital detox.