Internet shutdown in Pakistan-administered Kashmir passes 100 days

A temporary security measure becomes prolonged isolation

Internet restrictions across Pakistan-administered Kashmir have passed the 100-day mark, extending a communications crisis that began during political unrest in early June. Mobile data and broadband access have remained unavailable or severely limited across much of the territory, with uneven exceptions for banks and government offices. The duration has transformed a security response into a sustained obstacle to ordinary economic, educational and civic life.

Authorities first suspended services on June 5 as demonstrations intensified after the Joint Awami Action Committee was banned. The movement had mobilised around governance, prices and the allocation of legislative seats. Clashes later killed protesters, police officers and a bystander, while road closures and communications restrictions complicated travel. Regional elections were eventually divided into phases because of security concerns, but connectivity was not fully restored after voting concluded.

Daily services remain difficult to reach

Earlier reporting from the territory documented students unable to complete examinations, businesses struggling to process transactions and journalists finding it difficult to contact sources or transmit material. Families in rural areas also depend on online communications for remittances and coordination of medical travel. Limited connectivity at selected institutions does not resolve those wider problems because most residents cannot reliably reach the networks or services that remain active.

The restrictions also affect public accountability in a disputed and heavily securitised region. Pakistan administers the territory under a semi-autonomous system, while India claims it as part of the larger Kashmir dispute. Blocking communications during protests and elections makes independent verification harder and leaves residents dependent on official announcements, rumours or costly travel. That information gap is especially consequential when allegations of excessive force, arrests or shortages require prompt confirmation.

International standards require narrow limits

The UN Human Rights Committee has previously criticised Pakistan's frequent use of internet shutdowns and called for an end to measures that unduly restrict online expression. It said restrictions must satisfy legal tests of necessity and proportionality and should be subject to independent oversight. Those findings do not independently confirm every new condition in Kashmir, but they establish the relevant standard against which the continuing blackout will be judged.

The next test is whether authorities publish the legal basis, geographic scope and timetable for full restoration. Partial or intermittent access would still leave schools, businesses and newsrooms unable to plan. After more than three months, the burden is increasingly on the authorities to show why broad restrictions remain necessary and why less intrusive measures cannot address specific security risks.