New Delhi The government will examine the feasibility of blocking WhatsApp calling services in insurgency-hit areas such as Jammu and Kashmir as it has come to light that militants are using the facility to be in constant touch with their handlers sitting across the border, officials have said.
The issue was flagged during a meeting held here today under the chairmanship of Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba where the recent arrests in connection with the attack at Nagrota Army camp in 2016 was highlighted.
The arrested militants told the Jammu and Kashmir Police that they were taking directions from across the border through WhatsApp call, they said.
Seven Army men were killed in the Nagrota attack.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) recently took custody of the three people, arrested by the state police for their alleged involvement in helping the militants which included ferrying them from the border and guiding them to the Army camp.
The meeting, which was attended by top officials from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and those from security agencies as well as Jammu and Kashmir Police, was called to discuss the removal of ‘malicious content’ from various social networking sites posted by ‘keypad jihadis’, who ‘spew venom’ on the Internet with an intent to create a ‘law and order’ situation by spreading rumours or giving communal colour to any event.
The use of Internet for making calls has increased the problems for security agencies who have been unable to crack it due to end-to-end encryption by the service provider, they said.
An example of some countries which included those from the Gulf were cited during the meeting where neither WhatsApp voice or video calling was allowed, they said.
An official statement released said the meeting discussed effective measures to be taken by the law enforcement agencies to tackle the security challenges being posed by terrorists, militants and also individuals propagating child pornography using the social media platforms.
The meeting also discussed steps to enhance coordination among the law enforcement agencies, MeitY and DoT to block and remove ‘malicious content’ under sections 69 (Power to issue directions for interception or monitoring or decryption of any information through any computer resource) and 79 (limited access to a communication system over which information made available by third parties is transmitted or temporarily stored or hosted) of the IT Act.
It was decided that law enforcement agencies will closely coordinate with MeitY to ensure that the action to block the content on social media platforms is taken in a timely manner.
This will be followed by a meeting with the representatives of social media platforms for compliance, the statement said.
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