Police in Doda district, Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), have arrested several individuals for allegedly using Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) to bypass internet restrictions. The arrests follow a two-month ban on VPNs imposed by the district administration on 2 May 2025, citing threats to public order and national security.
“In strict compliance with the orders issued by the District Administration,” the police stated, “law enforcement agencies identified and apprehended multiple users who were bypassing internet restrictions.” Authorities confirmed that the detainees are currently being questioned and warned that future violations “will attract strict penal consequences.”
The VPN ban was enacted under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023—a controversial law that grants sweeping emergency powers to magistrates. Officials justified the move by citing intelligence reports that VPNs were being misused to access restricted content.
Legal experts have condemned the decision to ban VPNs. Constitutional lawyer Nitya Ramakrishnan criticized the provision for granting “blanket and unguided power” to the executive, calling it “a frontal assault on individual liberty.” Human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, have called for the immediate repeal of the BNSS and two other criminal laws, warning they could be “used as a pretext to violate the rights of all those who dare speak truth to power.”
The Modi government has faced sustained criticism for its aggressive use of digital censorship in IIOJK. After revoking the region’s semi-autonomous status in August 2019, Indian authorities imposed a total communications blackout—cutting mobile, landline, and internet access to to suppress potential unrest and protests against its decision to revoke the region’s special status., Although services were gradually restored, high-speed mobile internet remained suspended for more than 500 days, until February 2021.
While the length of the 2019–2021 internet shutdown in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), was unprecedented, internet blackouts have since become a routine policing tool used by Indian authorities to stifle protests and dissent. Since 2018, India has implemented more internet shutdowns than any other country in the world. According to Human Rights Watch, the Modi administration has systematically used internet shutdowns to suppress dissent and curtail freedoms in the disputed territory. Digital rights group Access Now reported that India imposed 84 internet shutdowns in 2024—the highest number recorded in any democratic nation.
Amid ongoing tensions with Pakistan, Indian authorities recently escalated digital restrictions by blocking several Pakistan-based YouTube channels and withholding access to over 8,000 X (formerly Twitter) accounts, many of which remain inaccessible to users in India.
The recent arrests in Doda district highlight growing concerns over state-led efforts to police digital spaces in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
