Despite social media ban, militants share videos, pics

Azhar Qadri

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, April 30

The latest images of militants on social media sites show a group of nine masked men armed with assault rifles, wearing fatigues and posing in front of an Islamist black flag.

The images have surfaced on the social media and instant messaging mobile applications despite the state government banning the use of online communication tools.

The ban has been implemented by the telecom companies but circumvented by local users by using proxy and virtual private network applications. The use of virtual private networks or VPNs has reduced the practicability of the government’s ban to zero.

With the use of VPNs, the users are able to access all 22 social media sites and instant messaging applications which the state government had banned earlier this week.

The latest set of pictures released by militants on social media sites include 12 images shot at an unidentified mountainous location.

It is rare for militants to pose before a black flag, which has become synonymous with global militant movements like the Al-Qaida and Islamic State, but it fits into the pattern of recent statements in which several militants have vowed to fight for an Islamist cause and have rejected nationalism.

Militants have also been able to release a video in which one of them is seen lecturing and training a batch of new recruits about the use of assault rifle. The video, which was shared on Facebook last night, has generated nearly 50,000 views and has been shared by almost 1,500 users.

The ban on social media sites and instant messaging applications includes the three most popular platforms: Facebook — where the militant video and picture have been shared —Twitter and Whatsapp.

It is for the first time that the state government has banned social media in the Kashmir valley even as the shutdown of internet has been a frequent feature in the region.