Citing concerns over national security and the possibility of “incitement to unrest”, authorities in Jammu and Kashmir have moved to restrict the use of virtual private networks (VPNs) in several districts of the Union territory, issuing a series of orders that temporarily prohibit their use by the public.

Among the latest is an ex-parte directive issued on December 29 by the district magistrate of Shopian in south Kashmir, who invoked Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) to impose a ban on VPNs for smartphone users and others in the district.

So far this month, at least six districts, including four in the Kashmir Valley and two in the Jammu region, have enforced similar restrictions under Section 163 of the BNSS, which grants executive magistrates the power to issue “urgent orders to prevent nuisance or danger”.

The Shopian order was issued after the senior superintendent of police in the district, through a communication dated December 26, flagged what was described as “unprecedented high usage” of VPNs “over the past few days” by “suspicious internet users”.

The district magistrate’s order said that VPNs “create point-to-point tunnels” and “mask IP addresses“ which could “enable users to bypass website blocks and firewalls, thereby making data related to sensitive information vulnerable to cyber-attacks”.

Warning that legal action could be taken against violators, the order said “immediate preventive measures” were required under Section 163 of the BNSS to “safeguard data/information related to the sensitive content from potential cyber threats”.

“Such activities have the potential to be exploited for unlawful and anti-national purposes, including inciting unrest, disseminating inflammatory material and coordinating activities prejudicial to the maintenance of law and order and also security of the UT of J&K,” the order noted.

Referring to Section 163, which replaced the colonial-era Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the district magistrate directed the “temporary suspension of the usage of all kinds of VPN applications and services on mobile phones and other digital devices/gadgets” in Shopian for a period of two months, unless the order is withdrawn earlier.

The restrictions have been imposed amid heightened security operations across parts of Jammu and Kashmir, as forces continue a major search to track suspected militants believed to be hiding in the higher reaches of Doda and Kishtwar districts in the Chenab Valley. The ongoing operation follows the killing of Amjad Ali Khan, a member of the J&K Police’s elite special operations group, who died in action on December 16 during an encounter with heavily armed militants in Udhampur district, which borders Doda.

While the use of VPNs is not illegal under existing laws, the Union ministry of electronics and information technology had, on April 28, 2022, directed VPN service providers to carry out KYC (“know your customer”) verification of users and retain usage logs for five years. That order, which legal experts and rights activists have criticised as a breach of privacy and a “frontal violation of individual liberty”, led several VPN providers to shut down their servers in India.