Internet Control

Indian authorities have ordered the restoration of low-speed mobile internet in Indian-administered Kashmir, but have allowed access to just 300 “whitelisted” websites. The order to restore second-generation (2G) mobile internet and data services, issued late on Friday, ended the longest such outage in any democracy. It was imposed nearly six months ago following the abrogation of the disputed region’s autonomy.

“Mobile data services and internet access through fixed line shall be allowed through the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir with some restrictions,” said a notification issued by the federal territory’s home department. The order said internet access will remain limited to “only whitelisted sites” and social media applications that allow “peer to peer communications and Virtual Private Networks [VPN] applications” will remain banned.