The J&K administration has extended the ban on high speed internet, ordering that only 2G service shall continue in Jammu and Kashmir till December 25, 2020.
As per an order issued today, only Udhampur and Ganderbal districts will have no high-speed restrictions, whereas the rest of 18 districts in J&K will have restrictions on high-speed internet services.
The Home Department’s order reads that high speed internet has to be barred “due to likelihood of misuse of the data services by the anti-national elements to disrupt the democratic process by creating a scare among the voters, carrying out attacks on security forces, targeting of contesting candidates and the workers.”
Justifying the snapping of even the 2G internet in poll-bound districts on the polling days, the order issued by Principal Secretary, Home Department, Shaleen Kabra, said: “In view of credible inputs, and as a matter of abundant caution, the access to the internet had to be restricted on the day of poll in the areas going for polling. There has been a continuous attempt to radicalise the youth using social media which rely on high-speed internet.”
The internet was snapped across J&K on August 5, 2019, when the Central Government abrogated the special Constitutional position of the state. Only low-speed 2G internet was restored on January 25, 2020, the ban on high speed internet continues.