Goyal had invoked the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, read with the Indian Telegraph (Amendment) Rules, 2007, to ban the social media sites in Kashmir.
The Mehbooba Mufti government has not extended the ban on social media that was imposed last month in an apparent bid to curb rumour-mongering and prevent miscreants from mobilising people for stone-pelting during encounters.
"We have not extended it (the ban). It was for a month," RK Goyal, Principal Secretary (home), Jammu and Kashmr, told DNA.
On April 26, the J&K government had asked Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to stop transmission of around 22 social networking sites, including Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and WhatsApp, with immediate effect for a period of one month or till further orders.
After weighing the pros and cons, the government decided to not extend the ban. What led the government to not extend the ban was the use of proxy servers by people to bypass the curbs on social media. Most of the people had downloaded VPN apps on their phones to access social media, including WhatsApp.
Goyal had invoked the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, read with the Indian Telegraph (Amendment) Rules, 2007, to ban the social media sites in Kashmir.
The April 26 order had stated that as per available inputs, over a period of time, a progressively increasing trend has been witnessed with regard to the misuse of social media by elements inimical to public order and tranquility, thereby impinging on public safety, particularly in the Kashmir Valley.
Valley back online
The social networking sites that were banned included Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, QQ, We Chat, Qzone, Tumblr, Google+, Baidu, Skype, Viber, Line, Snapchat, Pinterest, Telegram, Reddit, Snapfish, Youtube (upload), Vine, Xanga, Buzznet and Flickr.
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