India cracks down on use of VPNs in Kashmir to get around social media ban

FILE PHOTO: Indian security forces stand guard at the site of a grenade explosion in Srinagar February 6, 2020. REUTERS/Danish Ismail/File Photo

SRINAGAR, India (Reuters) - Authorities in Indian Kashmir are cracking down on virtual private network (VPN) apps used to circumvent a months-long ban on social media, police said, as part of a broader effort to quell unrest over the withdrawal of the region's autonomy.

Social networks such as Facebook , WhatsApp and Instagram are still blocked, even after the government restored limited mobile data service and the internet in Kashmir, so residents use VPNs or proxy servers to bypass the restrictions.