It would seem that the government of India has decided to suppress the voices of Kashmiris by imposing a social media ban. Reports suggest that authorities in Indian-held Kashmir have banned 22 social media sites including Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter. 3G and 4G services have been suspended for more than a week. The reason provided is to calm the tensions in the disputed region. Since the past few days, videos depicting the abuse of Kashmiris by Indian forces had been doing the rounds on internet — especially disturbing is the video of a man who was apparently used as a human shield by the Indian forces. While the government has halted the internet service in Kashmir in previous attempts to prevent anti-India demonstrations, this is the first time that it has been done in response to the circulation of videos and photos showing alleged violations of human rights by civilians. The recent wave of protests in Kashmir has been going on since the killing of Burhan Wani last year, who himself gained much of his popularity amongst young people through videos of his speeches posted on social media. As is now unfortunately all too common, Indian authorities are looking to explain away the movement by witch-hunts against ‘anti-national’ elements within India and the ever-convenient excuse of foreign (Pakistani) interference. A pitfall that governments across South Asia — in fact the entire world — repeatedly fall into is that of thinking that they can manage or suppress dissent by bans on media, particularly social media and the internet. The events of the past two decades, especially the relatively recent Arab Spring, have shown that this is not the case. The internet continues to fuel civil and military uprisings in regions where authorities try to clamp down on its use. With many sections of the Indian media unfortunately toeing the state’s line, Kashmiris had found an alternative medium of communication in social media. Banning it suggests fear on the part of authorities — as well as something of an admission of guilt. The ban has been criticised by digital rights groups in India, especially as it comes in the wake of videos highlighting the atrocities of the Indian forces. It remains to be seen if the Indian government will deal with this latest round of trouble in the Kashmir valley by living up to its democratic polity and constitution, or in the manner of authoritarian regimes all over the world. *