The utter uselessness of banning social media in Kashmir

[Zibago]

The utter uselessness of banning social media in Kashmir
Banning social media websites such as WhatsApp, Facebook, and Twitter will not help stem discontent in the valley. By restricting access to these websites, the government is encouraging people to find alternate ways of resistance, while inconveniencing millions of people who aren’t trying to brew discontent.

AUTHORS Updated: Apr 27, 2017 16:53 IST

Vidya Subramanian
Hindustan Times

Kashmiri students browse internet on their mobile phones in Srinagar. By banning social media websites such as WhatsApp, Facebook, and Twitter, the government is encouraging people to find alternate ways of resistance, while inconveniencing millions of people who aren’t trying to brew discontent.(AP)
blocked 22 social media sites for a month in the state. The ban includes sites such as Baidu, Xanga, QQ, and well known apps such as Whatsapp, Facebook, Skype, etc. This follows the already existing ban on 3G and 4G mobile services in the valley. This comes in the wake of increased student protestsacross campuses in the valley, and the barrage of criticism faced by the armed forces for using a civilian as a human shield on an army vehicle. Although this is not the first time that restrictions on internet access have been imposed in Kashmir, this is the first time that the government has blocked so many websites all at once. Internet services have been blocked 28 times over the past five years, and in 2016, after the Burhan Wani incident, internet signals were blocked for five months.



Read more

• 
  
  Two fresh videos of ‘rights violations’ by security forces go viral in Kashmir
• 
  
  No one should defend the use of a human shield by the army

If the attempt is to prevent images and videos such as the one about Farooq Ahmad Dar being tied to the front of an army jeep for an entire day from getting out, blocking a few websites will not do the trick. Information is like water. It will find a way out. Especially when much-used websites, such as Instagram, are not on the ‘blocked’ list. Also, in an age where virtual private networks (VPNs) are well known, blocking access to certain websites will become redundant very quickly.

Blocking the flow of information cannot be a solution to the problem. Ensuring that such violations of human rights do not happen, and bringing those responsible to justice would be a far more useful measure.

The other side of the coin in this situation is that while it might delay misinformation from spreading (It cannot possibly eliminate it, given that rumours existed and were spread quite freely before social media was even invented), it is important to remember that it will also make it harder to disseminate important information, especially in far flung areas.

Students pelt stones at security personnel in Srinagar (PTI)
The ban comes at a time when there have been protests across campuses in the Valley. A new disturbing trend has emerged where school girls, their faces covered with dupattas or wearing burkhas, have joined the ranks of those throwing stones at Indian Army personnel. These protests only go to show how much mistrust and suspicion there is in the minds of locals in the area. In such a situation, to enforce a blanket ban on technologies that teenagers in other part of the world take for granted will only make the youth feel more isolated and aggrieved. By restricting access to these websites, the government is encouraging people to find alternative ways of resistance, while inconveniencing millions of people who aren’t trying to brew discontent.

It makes no sense for the security agencies either. If they were monitoring online feeds to get a sense of the prevailing sentiment in certain areas of the Valley, by blocking traffic on these sites, they have deprived themselves of a key information highway. Even though many of these apps claim encryption, there is enough evidence to show that security agencies and governments around the world monitor the chatter on the internet to detect and prevent extreme situations from occurring.

Tldr: banning social media in Kashmir is a useless exercise, that could do more harm than good.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/autho...-in-kashmir/story-cjcZWIhHEXZ6o7PcwNGJ6I.html

 

[GlobalVillageSpace]

Social Media banned in Kashmir: Indian desperation to stop protests
Global Village Space |

Authorities in Indian-administered Kashmir have blocked 22 social media applications including Facebook, WhatsApp, and Twitter.

An official state circular was issued on Wednesday, April 26 which stated that the social media services were “being misused by anti-national and anti-social elements” in the Valley to disturb “peace and tranquility” and could be blocked for up to 30 days. An excerpt reads:

The government hereby directs all internet service providers that any message … through the following social networking sites shall not be transmitted in Kashmir Valley with immediate effect for a period of one month or till further orders, whichever is earlier.

The move comes in the face of increasing unrest in the region, particularly since last week, when India’s military was broadly condemned for strapping a Kashmiri man onto the front of an army jeep and parading him through several villages.

Read more: Why isn’t the World talking about Kashmir?

Many Kashmiri citizens and Indians are openly opposing the web ban, arguing that they go against the basic tenet of free expression, which is guaranteed by India’s constitution. Journalist Gowhar Geelani tweeted:

Though the Indian government has censored the Internet and discrete web platforms in the Kashmir valley with some frequency in the past, it is unusual for them to block social media platforms on such a large scale to quell protests.

Student protests, both in person and on social media, have intensified in recent days, in opposition to the heavy-handed tactics deployed under India’s Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), which significantly expands military power in regions considered to be “disturbed”. The policy gives officers broad legal immunity for actions taken in zones under this designation. The state of Jammu and Kashmir has been under the AFSPA since 1992, and currently has more than 700,000 troops deployed, making it the most militarized zone in the world.

Read more: Social Activists take to Twitter as the Kashmiri tied to military jepp video goes viral

As recently as April 9, separatist leaders called for boycotting elections in the state, which led to major protests and clashes, resulting in the death of nine people.

Writing for DailyO.in, Angshukanta Chakraborty suspected that social media was targeted in Kashmir because it showed a different narrative than what Indian authorities hope to portray:

By presenting the other side to the Kashmir storyline, the locals once again were able to own for a while what constitutes the highly complex and conflicted Kashmir narrative, something that made the government extremely uncomfortable, and it was left without a moral high ground.

Blocking social media to quieten the ‘anti-national’ rhetoric
Though the Indian government has censored the Internet and discrete web platforms in the Kashmir valley with some frequency in the past, it is unusual for them to block social media platforms on such a large scale to quell protests. The Indian government has very often used the “anti-national” rhetoric to question critics of its policy, be it filmmakers, activists, or NGOs.

Read more: India sells Dalai Lama but does not see contradiction in its stand on Kashmir

In addition to WhatsApp, Facebook, and Twitter, the ban also targets Chinese-owned platforms such as QQ, Baidu, and WeChat from the Valley. QZone, Google Plus, Skype, Pinterest, Snapchat, YouTube, Vine, and Flickr are also banned.

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Social Media banned in Kashmir: Indian desperation to stop protests