The J&K police said that ‘miscreants’ were using VPNs to post on social media. VPN allows users to mask their location and browse the internet securely.
Srinagar| Police in J&K have invoked the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act to register a case against people using social media through proxy servers by getting past Internet firewalls.
The FIR was filed a day after a video of the ailing Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Geelani was uploaded on social media by different users.
“Taking serious note of misuse of social media, the Cyber Police Station, Kashmir Zone, Srinagar has registered a Case FIR against various social media users who defied the Government orders and misused social media platforms,” police said in a statement.
“The FIR has been registered while taking cognizance of social media posts by miscreants by use of different VPNs, which are propagating rumours with regard to the current security scenario of the Kashmir valley, propagating secessionist ideology and glorifying terror acts/terrorists,” it said.
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The J&K government restored Internet service after shutting it down for six months but only about 350 ‘whitelisted’ websites can be accessed in the valley. All social media platforms have been banned and this is the first time the police has filed an FIR for that ban being violated.
The government had initially put a blanket ban on mobile and internet services ahead of the revocation of Article 370 of the constitution, which lifted the autonomy of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated it into two union territories. The ban on 3G and 4G services has been further extended till February 24. Only 2G services are available at the moment.
“There have been continuous reports of misuse of social media sites by miscreants to propagate secessionist ideology and to promote unlawful activities. Social media has remained a favourite tool which largely provides anonymity to the user and also gives wide reach,” the police statement said. “Lot of incriminating material has also been seized in this regard,” it said.
The FIR, registered under sections 13 of UAPA, 188, 505 of IPC and 66-A (b) of IT Act, is the first against the use of social media after the ban. Section 66A of the IT Act has been struck down by the Supreme Court in March 2015.
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