Indian government orders SMS jam to avoid outbreak during religious festival

The Government of Gujarat, India, ordered the local mobile phone networks to jam all SMS messages yesterday from 3pm to 8pm, in order to preserve law and order during the religious festival, Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath. Despite the concerns, the event concluded peacefully, according to Cellular News.

Such an order has reportedly been given before in Indian. In March 2002, local cellphone networks in Mumbai, the financial center were asked in to disable their SMS service during the day, to help reduce social unrest and avoid the organization of illegal demonstrations.

emily | 10:51 AM | SMS and Politics |
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