Kashmiris find VPN way out of social media ban: Kashmir was back on social networks before the state government removed controls, courtesy Virtual Private Networks or VPNs. A user facing Internet censorship can use VPNs to create a secure connection to a more permissive country and browse the Internet as if he was situated in that…
India ranks 4th in online security breaches: CHERNNAI: As the risk of cyber threats looms over enterprises going digital, a Symantec study reveals that India ranks fourth when it comes to online security breaches, accounting for over 5% of global threat detections. The US and China occupy the top two slots and together make for…
Social media ban: Some Kashmiris baffled, others suggest ways to defy it: Mehraj Din, a PhD scholar of Islamic Studies at Kashmir University, is in a fix after the state government suspended the use of 22 social media and messaging platforms for a month. Selected for a prestigious summer programme in Ihsan Academy at Istanbul…
Netizen Report: Censorship Spikes in India, Subsides in Cameroon: Authorities in Indian-administered Kashmir have blocked 22 social media applications, including Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter. An official state circular issued on April 26 said the social media services were “being misused by anti-national and anti-social elements” in the Kashmir Valley to disturb “peace and tranquility” and…
India Bans 22 Social Media Sites to Calm Tensions in Kashmir: (SRINAGAR, India) — Authorities in Indian-controlled Kashmir have banned 22 social media sites in an effort to calm tensions in the disputed region after videos depicting the alleged abuse of Kashmiris by Indian forces fueled protests. But the sites remained online Thursday as the…
Digital rights are human rights, says Nighat Dad at RightsCon 2017: The sixth conference of its kind, RightsCon 2017 was first initiated after social media’s role in Arab Spring. The event, held from March 29-31, included around 250 sessions under 20 main themes including Freedom of Expression, Algorithmic Accountability and Transparency, Business and Human Rights,…
Internet shutdown in Kashmir during by poll; 25-year-old candidate taking on bigwigs: Amidst calls for poll boycott, the J&K Police decided to clamp the internet down in Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency before the bypoll began on Sunday despite J&K Chief Election Officer suggesting not to, as their webcast would also be affected. Read More
Supreme Court of India hears the WhatsApp-Facebook Data Sharing Case: The special leave petition against the Delhi High Court’s ruling upholding WhatsApp’s updated privacy policy came up for hearing before a bench of five judges today. This policy is contentious because it allows WhatsApp to share valuable personal information of its users, including phone numbers,…
Mobile internet in Kashmir snapped twice in a month; What can be done instead: Mobile internet services were snapped for the second time across Kashmir this month, Greater Kashmir reports. According to reports, mobile Internet services could remain suspended for next four days, though there was no immediate official confirmation. Internet services were cut following…
Unlawful to make Aadhaar mandatory: Recently, I attempted a tweetstorm on why I think the 2016 Aadhaar Act does not override, or render useless, the orders passed in Oct 2015 by the Supreme Court. I argued that all of the recent notifications by various central government authorities making Aadhaar mandatory to avail the respective service…