J&K To Be No-Social Media Zone For Local Broadband Users

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has kicked off a humongous exercise to consolidate its technical muscle to stop access to all platforms of the social media in Kashmir, as the J&K administration plans to restore between 2,000 to 5,000 fixed-line broadband connections in phases in the Valley this month. A senior government official told The Hindu that all Internet service providers, including private players offering lease lines and the government-run BSNL, have been asked to work on generating “a technical muscle” and “firewalls” to stop access to all platforms of the social media like Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and Instagram.

“There are fears that locals will log on to these social media platforms and upload videos recorded in the past five months, posing threat to the current calm in Kashmir,” a senior police officer told The Hindu. “Besides, Pakistan may also use social media to coordinate with militants.” The MHA and the J&K police are working on a three-page list of websites, including those offering online Islamic courses, discussion platforms on Islam and several news platforms, that may be barred from any access to the over 1.25 crore population of J&K, which has over 60 lakh Internet users.