SIDE Report 2025 flags Internet Usage Disparities in Uttar Pradesh
The Software Freedom Law Center, India (SFLC.in) has raised alarms over internet usage disparities in Uttar Pradesh, revealed by the “State of India’s Digital Economy, 2025.” Report released by the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER). Despite the State being working on growing its IT and ITeS (Information Technology and Information Technology enabled Services) sector , the report revealed that rural areas exhibit a lower internet penetration rate, with only 10-20% of the population using the internet, compared to 40-50% in urban areas .
This gap underlines the urgent need for developing equitable digital infrastructure which SFLC.in has been advocating. This leaves several rural communities from accessing critical online services, educational resources or economic opportunities due to inadequate connectivity and affordability barriers, despite a 66.83% tele-density as reported by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) as on 31st May, 2025 .
Moreover, gender disparities amplify this divide as the SIDE report confirms that male internet users in Uttar Pradesh (30-40%) significantly outnumber females (10-20%), with a stronger correlation highlighting systemic gender-based digital exclusion, which is creating barriers for women to access services such as digital payments deepening cultural restrictions and indicative of a low digital literacy among women often severely limiting their ability to engage with digital platforms or protect themselves from cyber threats.
Moreover, the ICRIER report highlights that there is a lower penetration rate with 10-20% of the rural population of Uttar Pradesh using the internet, compared to 40-50% in urban areas , despite 94% rural households in Uttar Pradesh having at least one mobile phone as reported by the National Family Health Survey-5 . These findings echo SFLC.in’s repeated calls for interventions to empower marginalized groups to ensure that the society moves from a digital divided world to a digital connected world.
SFLC.in thus calls for an immediate action, including localized digital literacy campaigns, study the effective implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Digital Sakasharta Abhiyan via community-based training centers, and integration of cybersecurity education into school curricula and local governance structures like panchayats. These steps will help Uttar Pradesh’s digital divide be bridged across its rural and urban pockets and not deepen social and economic inequalities, aligning it with the state’s vision of becoming a digital economy leader.
