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The government is considering imposing restrictions on social media platforms like WhatsApp in Jammu and Kashmir in order to curb their use by terrorists in the region, according to a report by Times of India.
Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba chaired a meeting in which the issue of misuse of social media in the state was brought up.
Social media platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram are increasingly becoming sources of communal unrest in Jammu and Kashmir as terrorists use them to communicate with each other and their Pakistan-based handlers.
A Jaish-e-Mohammad attack at the Nagrota camp in 2016 opened the authorities' eyes to the fact that many apps like WhatsApp are used for the terrorists' internal communication.
Many terrorists had reportedly told Jammu and Kashmir police that they were receiving instructions from their partners across the border through WhatsApp voice calls.
Officials from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Department of Telecommunications, and Jammu and Kashmir police, met to discuss the expulsion of poisonous content posted by 'keypad jihadis' on social media.
A senior official told TOI that these apps and websites need curbs.
"We are examining how social media applications and messaging services across the board can be effectively controlled (to block or suspend terror-related communication and malicious content). This includes WhatsApp as well as Telegram," the official was quoted as saying.
Due to end-to-end encryption, security agencies have faced many problems in tracking the activity of internet voice calls.
The Home Ministry issued a release in which it said that effective measures will be taken by law enforcement agencies to tackle security challenges that the internet poses in Jammu and Kashmir.
The ministry also talked about how terrorists are using social media platforms in its statement. It said that these apps are being used to propagate child pornography, a separate meeting for which is scheduled soon.
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