India keeps lid on Kashmir's Internet six months into lockdown

A Kashmiri man browsing the Internet in Srinagar. India has restored limited Internet at slow speeds with access only to government-approved websites. — AP

NEW DELHI: Six months after India's government stripped restive Kashmir of its semi-autonomy and enforced a total communications blackout, it is heralding the restoration of limited, slow-speed Internet as a step toward normalcy.

But for the Himalayan region's seven million people, the reality is far different. They are only allowed to access government-approved websites. Popular social media platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter remain blocked. And while users can access YouTube and Netflix, the Internet service is too slow to stream video.