Dikhyaa Mohanty 
In an effort to prevent anti-social elements from disseminating harmful messages, images, and videos, the Manipur government on Monday decided to extend the ban on mobile internet service for an additional five days, until November 18. Following the outbreak of ethnic violence in Manipur on May 3, mobile internet usage was initially prohibited throughout the entire state 195 days ago. Every five days since then, the ban has been renewed.
The three Director General of Police has reported that there have been reports of gunfire between two communities in the periphery of five districts, namely Bishnupur, Churachandpur, Imphal East, and Imphal West, according to a notification made by Manipur Commissioner (Home), T. Ranjit Singh, on Monday. In addition, there have been reports of widespread demonstrations calling for the location of two young people who have gone missing and the kidnapping of four people by armed criminals who have not been identified.
In the notification, Singh expressed concern that certain anti-social elements could use social media extensively to spread hate speech, hate images, and hate videos that inflame public sentiment and could have a serious negative impact on Manipur’s law and order situation.
“There exists a pressing risk of fatalities and destruction of public and private assets, along with extensive disruptions to social peace and order, due to provocative content and untrue stories that could be disseminated to the public via social media, text messaging apps, SMS services, and dongle services,” the statement continued.
After the situation largely normalised, the internet ban was lifted on September 23. Still, it had to be imposed again on September 26 after hundreds of students clashed with security forces after images of the bodies of two missing students were circulated on social media.
