The social networking Web sites Facebook and YouTube have been blocked since Friday in India's northern state of Jammu and Kashmir, even though it has been over a week since the last protests against an anti-Islam film.
One telecom company employee, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, confirmed that Facebook and YouTube were still inaccessible on Wednesday, as did several Kashmiris. The state government had ordered telecom companies late last month to shut down Internet and mobile phone services as it tried to keep Muslims from uploading and downloading the video “Innocence of Muslims,†which has angered Muslims across the world because of its negative portrayal of the Prophet Muhammad.
Government officials insist that the measure quelled the riots and prevented the kind of violence that claimed over 20 li ves in Pakistan.
Since the demonstrations have subsided, Kashmiri Muslims say they suspect that the Jammu and Kashmir government is using the past protests as a justification to routinely block their Internet access. The government, however, denied that it was continuing to bar Internet users from these two social media sites.
“There was never a ban but a suspension,†Aga Ruhullah, Jammu and Kashmir's information technology minister, said Wednesday. The service was suspended on YouTube and Facebook. This was done for the sake of law of order, and that order was revoked on Oct. 1. There must be a snag on the part of service providers because we have revoked the order.â€
Some people can access YouTube and Facebook on their mobile phones while Facebook can sometimes be opened on laptops and computers via broadband, but this access comes and goes. The telecom employee said that apps for YouTube or Facebook in new models of phones could bypass his company's firewall and that in any case, an indefinite block was unlikely because the local telecom companies would lose revenue.
Sunil Abraham, executive director at the Center for Internet and Society, a Bangalore-based research and advocacy group, explained that Internet service providers rarely imposed blanket bans because they do not want to “alienate their customer base.â€
The Jammu and Kashmir government has increasingly used a communication blackout to prevent unrest in the valley. Even regular mobile phone services were shut down on Sept. 21 between noon and 5 p.m. when it was feared that protests against the anti-Islam film would erupt. Services were restored shortly afterward but were again suspended on Friday.
Kashmiris said that the state government was using the anti-Islam film as a pretext to curb their freedom of speech by restricting access to popular Web sites.
“Personally, I think it's a gag on communication,†said a teenage college s tudent who requested his name not be disclosed because he feared retaliation from the government. “Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have become sources of passing messages and information for separatists.â€
Aala Fazili, a 30-year-old postgraduate student, said that Facebook and YouTube allowed Kashmiris to communicate with the world without their words and actions being interpreted by the media. “It is direct and uncut information,†he said. “We speak for ourselves.â€
Mr. Ruhullah, however, denied any attempt to crack down on free speech in Kashmir. “We are liberal as before,†he said. “But it is the right of every government to control a bad situation.â€
Other college students said they had also heard of people using proxy servers to access the sites. Mr. Abraham of the Center for Internet and Society said that such government bans could be circumvented by using proxy servers or by downloading open-source software like Typhoon and the Onion R outer, or Tor, that helps maintain the anonymity of an online user, as many do in China.
Pranesh Prakash, also from the same center in Bangalore, said that in blocking YouTube and Facebook, the government had once again gone “overboard.†“Lessons have not been learned from what happened in August,†he said, referring to the crackdown on the Internet in aftermath of the Assam riots.
But Kashmiris expressed frustration over the blocking of YouTube and Facebook for reasons other than free speech and activism. Businessmen, for instance, said these two sites had become integral to their branding and communication strategy.
Zulfi, a 24-year-old hotel manager, who requested his last name not be used so he could avoid scrutiny from the government, couldn't access YouTube and Facebook on Wednesday. “It is bad for business as we publicize on both these sites,†he said. “And more and more people reach out to us on Facebook now so I am always checking the messages.â€
For many Kashmiris, Facebook is also an inexpensive form of communication with their friends and relatives in India or abroad.
“Forget activism and all - it's just a basic tool to keep in touch,†said Mr. Fazili, the postgraduate student, who hasn't been able to reach his mother in the United States on Facebook or Skype. “This ban has made the entire Internet slow as well,†he added.
