Residents of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) experienced more internet shut-downs and restrictions than any other region in 2022, including Iran and Russia, according to a new report.
More than a fifth of all web blackouts took place in held Kashmir, according to Surfshark, a virtual private network company headquartered in Lithuania, the Voice of America (VoA) reported.
The VPN company’s global report on internet censorship in 2022 — released mid-January — found 32 countries were hit by a total of 112 restric-tions. Almost all came during times of protest or unrest.
IIOJK ranked alongside Russia — where Mos-cow moved to cut access to social media and news amid its invasion of Ukraine; Iran, where blocks came amid mass protests that started in September; and India, where Surfshark documented cuts in ser-vice at times of unrest.
Overall, Asia led the world for internet disrup-tions, accounting for 47 per cent of all global cases. An estimated 4.2 billion people experienced internet censorship throughout the year, Surfshark found.—APP
