Whitelist website count up, low-speed net to continue

SRINAGAR: After a fresh review of internet restrictions, the Jammu and Kashmir administration has decided to continue with the low speed internet in the region and issued an enhanced ‘whitelist’ of 329 websites and domain extensions which can be accessed in the Union territory.

The review done by home department on Friday stated that the directions and restrictions issued on January 24 will continue to remain operative till February 7 unless modified earlier.

“The IGP Kashmir/Jammu will ensure immediate compliance of these directions by all service providers,” the order signed by home secretary Shaleen Kabra stated.

On January 24, the Jammu and Kashmir administration had announced restoration of low speed mobile internet and fixed line connectivity in all districts with access to a whitelist of around 301 websites. The announcement followed Supreme Court’s January 10 directive to review the ban on internet services in the UT every week.

People in Kashmir were eagerly waiting for restoration of internet but have been left dejected by the slow speed, limited access and unreliability.

The restoration has not solved the problems of people who have been demanding high speed internet for their day to day work.

Despite the January 24 order, the broadband is yet to be restored as the BSNL has been consulting technical experts to firewall access to social media and other websites.

In Friday’s order, the list contains 329 web addresses and domains with roughly an increase of some 25 addresses.

Some of the websites have appeared twice in the list and at other places only domain extensions like ‘ac.in’, ‘nic.in’ and ‘gov.in’ have been mentioned.