The Manipur High Court is now pressing to find ways to restore broadband Internet across the State (with a block on social media websites) even as the Manipur government has said this is difficult because Virtual Private Network (VPN) services can still be used to access blocked sites.
Continuing the hearing on a batch of public interest litigation (PILs) petitions seeking restoration of Internet services in the State, a Division Bench of Justices Ahanthem Bimol Singh and A. Guneshwar Sharma on Friday directed Internet service providers and both the Centre and the State government to explore the possibility of blocking VPN servers as well to sidestep this issue.
In response to a specific plea regarding restoration of Internet access, the Manipur government had said on June 16 that it is possible to restore broadband Internet with a block on social media sites. But it added that this would not prevent people from using VPN services to continue accessing restricted content.
The State has been under Internet shutdown since May 3 when clashes broke out between the dominant Meitei people and the Scheduled Tribe Kuki-Zomi people.
Limited access
In Friday’s hearing, the Internet service providers (ISPs) made the same submissions before the court. The court noted that the other option suggested by the ISPs was to whitelist certain devices and broadband connections and secure these devices so that limited access can be provided to the public at designated spots.
This alternative is what the State government is now pushing to consider for those working from home, students, and the general public even as the practicality of it has been questioned by rights experts.
A directive issued by the State government showed that such physical access points are being set up at the Indian Institute of Information Technology, Manipur, Manipur University, Manipur Institute of Technology, and National Institute of Technology, Manipur. However, this directive also revealed that the only way to prevent VPN use would be for the institutes to physically monitor people’s usage.
However, the court, after hearing all submissions, deemed it fit to ask if the VPN servers themselves can be blocked and Internet access can be restored.
The court first impleaded the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), the National Informatics Centre in Manipur (represented by the State Informatics Officer), and the Department of Information Technology of the State government, as respondents in the case.
It then went on to direct the MeitY and the State Informatics Centre (SIC) to “verify as to whether there is any known list of VPN servers presently available/ operating and to submit a list of such VPN servers before this court.”
It also directed the Department of IT, Government of Manipur and the SIC to prepare a list of technical experts who can identify the presently operating/ available VPN servers and submit this list before the court by the next date of hearing.
Technical experts
Further, the court went on to direct all mobile service providers to submit a report as to whether it is possible to block these VPN servers as identified, thereby impleading all of them as respondents to the cases as well. The court also directed the service providers to arrange for technical experts who can appear before it and assist the court.
Additionally, the court noted on Friday that except for Airtel, all Internet and mobile service providers had appeared before the court. It thus directed the special counsel representing the State government, Rarry Mangsatabam, to send a notice to Airtel directing a representative to be present in court for the next hearing, which has now been set for June 27.
