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The paper tries to elaborate the role of media and how media has been used as an important channel for communication, which includes building public opinion and setting the agenda. According to the World Economic Forum 2013 report on Global Risks, one of the most interesting and dangerous issues our society faces is the virality of false rumours on the social media platforms that leads to serious digital misinformation. The media, in addition to being a public echo forum and assisting in raising awareness of issues and facilitating public consultation, is also used by government and non-government actors to raise awareness regarding various issues and contribute to public perceptions of the truth. The paper attempts to explain how multimedia in general and social media are used primarily to create public perception and to spread malicious propaganda in Jammu and Kashmir especially after 2013, and how it has impacted the nature of militancy in Kashmir.

1. To elaborate the role of media and how media has been used as an important channel for communication. 2. To examine the role of social media in radicalizing youth in Jammu and Kashmir. 3. To explain how social media is used to spread malicious propaganda in Jammu and Kashmir. 4. To evaluate how social media has impacted the nature of militancy in Kashmir. 5. To evaluated different social media tools used by terrorist groups in Jammu and Kashmir.

The World Wide Web and the Internet have grown to become a worldwide platform for collaboration and information exchange, giving users the freedom to access and share information at anytime, anywhere. On the other hand, the emergence of Web 2.0 and its applications has served as a platform for the expansion of extremist and terrorist groups on online social networking sites. The widespread use of the Internet has an influence on our daily lives, either directly or indirectly. Today's increased sociability, improved connectedness, and improved communication are all benefits of the Internet. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime was requested in March 2012, as part of its mandate, to develop specialised legal knowledge in the field of counterterrorism and to assist requesting Member States with regard to criminal justice responses to terrorism, including, where appropriate, the use of the Internet for terrorist purposes. This request followed the General Assembly's adoption of resolution 66/178 (United Nations, 2020).

According to Cornish (Cornish, 2008) Concerns about how the internet encourages online radicalization have grown. (Behr et. al., 2013; Sageman, 2008; Weiman 2006; Dodd,2010) as it gives people the means to radicalise themselves by exposing them to a constant stream of radical ideas. Social media have become a powerful tool for online membership recruitment as well as the stimulation of radical ideas. Al-Qaida, according to (Congress, 2007), promotes domestic terrorism and frequently uses the internet as a tool for finance raising and propaganda distribution.

Insurgents and terrorists throughout the world have come to rely significantly on cyber mobilisation, which is uniquely suited to efficiently carry out psychological warfare. This may have a significant impact without incurring significant resources. Due to the shutdown of real spaces, people in Kashmir frequently go to the cyber world to express their frustrations, which are then mishandled (Batra, 2020). The ease of sharing has to be reconsidered in light of the type of material shared and produced by terror groups or individuals, and greater checks and balances are required (Shah, 2019).

Table1: Local and Foreign Militants Killed in Kashmir

Source: South Asia Terrorism Portal.

Today militancy in Kashmir has moved beyond traditional space and is actively using modern means like social media to spread their propaganda.With the increased use of the internet and increased global connectivity, social media has become a double-edged sword.Terrorist organisations are increasingly efficiently using the same social media channels that have become one of the most popular communication tools. It is not a new tool for terror groups to spread propaganda[1], also there are several factors that have led to increasing attraction of social media as platform for modern terrorists:
1. The expansion of online social media and its advantages for terrorists.
2. The use of virtual interactivity in terrorist propaganda and recruitment, especially with precise targeting.
Since 2004, the growth of social media has been near exponential. Back in those days, Facebook only had about 1 million users. In 2019 Facebook has more than 2.4 billion active users. Twitter saw steep growth from 2010 to 2019 (reaching 321 million active users in 2019). A recent Pew study indicates that 72 per cent of all Internet users in India are also social media users[1]. In India the average time spend by an adult, online is around 1hour,12 minutes and majority of that time is via mobile phones. These trends do not remained unnoticed to Internet –savvy terrorists, who quickly learned how to harness new social media as a line of communication.
Online Radicalization in Kashmir
The increasing use of social media platforms combined with a fatal dose of radical content has given methodical progression to 30 years of radicalism in Kashmir, where many radical ideological groups, terrorist groups and their leaders survive on the social, political, and economic weaknesses of Kashmiris.Firstly, used by Burhan, to propagate radical messages and videos, and even for the recruitment of militants. The other organisations, like Hizbul-Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), use social media platforms such as YouTube, WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Telegram,and others to spread anti-India propaganda, which includes videos of terrorist training sessions and alleged harassment of locals by security forces, leading to increased enmity between security forces and local youth[3].The ever-present hate speech online also simplifies the process of radicalization and hiring. Online campaigns that one cannot be separated from another. Anti-national activities and terrorist propaganda were projected as a freedom fight, the new recruits were considered victims of the Indian state and Kashmir rescuers. For the stated purpose, terrorist groups do not have to resort to other means; social media gives them cover, space and speed to influence young people. The contents present online also simplifies the process of radicalization.[2]
For the stated purpose, terrorist organizations do not have to resort to other means; social media gives them cover, space and speed to influence young people. Kashmir analysts and scholars have argued that the first local military wave was defeated in 1996. One of Kashmir's most prominent and influential commentators, Manoj Joshi, who has studied and watched the Kashmir conflict for decades, points to the first military wave in Kashmir successfully conquered and conquered by India, in 1996. Yet for the first time in 18 years, in 2018, more local soldiers were killed at the intersection of foreign militants, reflecting the revival, and increased regional military participation. According to various reports and newspapers around 200 local militants were recruited in 2018, among whom about 70% of were between the age group of15 to 25 years[3]. Jason Burke, a British journalist who specializes in terrorism worldwide, while commenting on BurhanWani’s rise in the article "A new type of military is on the rise in Kashmir –who are young, educated and possessed professional degrees with expertise in technology " said the new military was different from those who had joined 20 years ago. They are younger and better educated[4].

Source: Official data collected from news reports(up to 2020).
Social Media: An in Expensive Recruitment Tool 

In today's world of globalizing, social media has such a wide reach that it appears to be a ticking time bomb for everyone. It has contributed significantly in the rise of unrest and violence in the Jammu & Kashmir region. In this regard, the death of Hizbul Commander BurhanWani, who was killed in a security operation in July 2016, is the best example. His death had sparked months of upheaval in Kashmir valley[5].Social media had made him as an ideal poster boy for Kashmiri youths. Now day’ssocial media has given militants a space to directly convey their propaganda to youths in Kashmir, militants are not hiding their identity/image because social media has become an easy available platform for them to spread their ideology and recruit youths through it. They are now no longer faceless. As now militant post images with ammunition (e.g. gun) across their body and post such content on social media to get publicity, that too somewhere sitting in remote forest area. Besides this a new trend has been started by militants in Kashmir, whenever someone joins militancy announcements are made through social media, which has definitely a great impact on young minds of Kashmir.BurhanWani was first who successfully struck chord with people through social media and attracted youngsters, newer militants are trying out the same. People get to know about themthrough videos and pictures; they post on social networking sites.In this modern era militants are not only using physical strength but they also infiltrate in your computers and mobile phones which are quite different from the militancy of the 1990s, when there were no such technologies. Due to the innovation in the technology people are in real time able to spread any event that takes part like few examples like Stone-pelting protester shoot videos of clashes of them with forces and upload them onto social media instantly.Following a confrontation near an encounter site in Kulgam in February, many similar videos were widely disseminated on social media[6]. Attempting to demonstrate how forces were purportedly shooting at protestors and "killing Kashmiris," the videos captured a few terrible moments from the fighting that occurred and added some doctored footage to it, spreading like a fire and unrest in the region was been witnessed.Another was in April 2019; a video came in which groups of Kashmiri youth were heckling the security forces who were returning from the duty from Srinagar on April 9 which has bring about in a huge outrage from all over the India. The video was always been admired for the tolerant capacities of the soldiers. However, a video showing forces using a teenage boy as a human shield against stone-pelters on by-poll day in Srinagar. The security forces were accused for brutality and human rights abuse on civilians. The  idea that without internet access valley would be free of street protests was thwarted when both mobile and internet services were seized across Kashmir for by-elections in the Srinagar region - militants shot dead eight protesters that day. Although police officials argued that with the use of the Internet, the level of violence could be higher. So, forces were able to tackle the outrage of violence but it wasn’t that effective then what they thought to be the social media ban turned out to be animmense failure. As many internet users in the region had switched to Virtual Private Network (VPN) apps to overcome the ban, which was a big surprise for the government as many Kashmiris were all leading a busy social media life throughout the ban which wasn’t thought by the government and was a big setback for them. The state had lost both the battles offline and online as they were unable to stop the spreading of the rumor and false news related to ill treatment towards Kashmiris and their presence in the region[7].

Source: ORF Kashmir Tracker, Observer Research Foundation, October 2018.

Internet usage in Jammu and Kashmir was higher than the average of rest of India. There were around 28.62 internet subscribers per 100 populations in the state compared to the all-India figure of 25.37[8]. On the recommendation of security services, the government appears to be overly cautious in restricting the use of social media networks such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, and Instagram. From the past experience of some minor incident of instigating the people, has led to the deterioration of law and order on the ground. Be it the killing of the militant commander, BurhanWani, or the Amarnath land row. So militant use social sites to trickle the emotion and belief of youths and try them to adapt their ideology or way of life they have adopted. There are also various local WhatsApp groups like Pulwamatigers, whichwere later taken down, formed to create unrest and disruption during search and cordon operations or even whenever militants got trapped.
As a result, the first stage is to gather militant information and organize it into a database that can be used to track them down. This entails a searchable database/GIS system, as well as automatic search, capture, and data cleansing to eliminate repeated reports of the same incident. We needed a mechanism that could keep a regular eye on militant's operations because militant and criminal groups use network forms of organization, which are intrinsically more stable and less prone to being disrupted by simple measures[9]. More recently work has been done in this area to track their movement through network methods. Which has been formed a successful part of intelligence work.
In the aftermath of the abrogation, the region's geopolitical paradigm poses a new threat to national security. Today's cyber laws require modification to make them more user-friendly and to protect the right to information with on other hand making national security terms non-negotiable. Internet today has provided a network of connectivity from a small town to city to nation to entire world, but it has also provided an unwelcome opportunity for state foes to engage in propaganda against them.
As after abrogate of Articles 35A and 370 and ban on use of internet in Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan has continuously used the platform of social media to project Indian democracy as anti-people and authoritarian in Kashmir[10]. There was propaganda on both sides, as well as promoting misinformation on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Though, showing videos and old clips purporting to depict the current situation in Kashmir, as well as propaganda showing old recordings of unconnected incidents purporting to prove that Indian Muslims oppose the move.Thus, the strategic community and policymakers needs to make swift steps to halt the spread of misinformation.
The governance in the various parts of the state, considering the numerous areas that can be subjected to direct and indirect involvement while also merging the segmented areas of governance into policy convergence. When asked about the communication blackout, India's Minister of External Affairs S. Jai Shankar replied that it was the most efficient way to prevent misuse and probable violence and stone pelting in the valley. "How do I block off terroristscontacts with their bosses while keeping the internet available for everyone else?" He answered[11].
Post 370 Abrogation
Kashmir is undergoing a period of peace and relative stability owing to increasing counter-terrorism operations, border surveillance with the use of latest technology and decreasing cross-border infiltration along the Line of Control (LoC). In spite of this trend, the valley has been witnessing a series of targeted killings in the region in recent months in which both outsiders as well as locals have been targeted. Srinagar has experienced the highest cases in this regard.in December 2021 one of the major attacks took place in the city when a bus was ambushed by militants carrying police officers, in which three police officers were killed and injuring 11.These killings highlights the fact that insurgents have full information of the areas aswell as intelligence sources, besides the operations and daily routines of their targets. 
The abrogation of Jammu & Kashmirs (J&K) special constitutional status under Article 370 in August 2019, which had given narrow and limited power to the Indian parliament’s to make laws for the state, incited militant groups in Kashmir to change their tactics. Besides, militant groups have altered their social media propaganda strategy. Earlier, images as well as videos were shared publicly by the militants, also sharing their  images post joining militant group and immediately claim responsibility for attacks though social media which gives them large platform to spread their ideology .But these strategies made them susceptible and traceable besides revealing their  identification. However the emerging militant groups are now adopting fake identities online to protect themselves. At the same time elude getting banned on social media by using new names or by means of other online podiums such as Nand Box and TamTam to avoid de-platforming. In the past two years, nearly 1900 militant acquaintances, or "over-ground workers" (OGWs), have been detained and around more than 195 terror modules busted. Nearly 2700 persons have been booked  in the state under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) in the preceding three years in Jammu & Kashmir, and since 2020 nearly 465 have been charged under the Public Safety Act (PSA) in Jammu & Kashmir.

The most effective weapon of the new militancy has emerged as social media. Militants no longer rely on the traditional press, as they did in the 1990s, to gain column space in the press through intimidation. Militants have moved beyond traditional space today, with hundreds of thousands of images and videos of militancy being shared on social media sites every day. New content is frequently encrypted through platforms like Telegram and WhatsApp, such as militant’s dying statements; their last phone call conversations with friends, family, or even with security officials; videos of training in the jungles of South Kashmir; selfies showing camaraderie among the cadre; and pictures of militants playing cricket in the open fields of the Valley. Such content is used by militants to inspire the young Kashmiris to join militancy as the content is mostly consumed by youth because of their greater presence on such platforms. Internet shutdowns have become common in the valley as part of counter terrorist strategy, as a means of curbing down on propaganda and spread of false and fabricated news. Aside from the security situation on the ground, there are clear gaps in how the state, social media sites, and citizens deal with extremist and violent content online. Furthermore, the state has no policy in place to combat extremist and radical messaging on the internet, other than reporting it to social media companies and waiting for them to take it down. However, the greater problem is not solved by deletion of a few websites or videos, as the content is going quickly viral and videos are downloaded almost instantly. There could be possible halt in militant recruitment through internet shutdown policy by the government in the valley as the militant groups were not be been able to effectively drive their propaganda as they use to do before. Militant groups, on the other hand has restart their activities on social media the moment the government decides to restore internet service, and will use social media for propaganda and communications. Some reports have even suggested that to overcome restrictions placed by government, militants are even using satellite phones. This means that, while the group’s outreach to the general public may be impacted to some extent by internet shutdown but intergroup communications could be continuing. Militancy will remain resilient in J&K as long as terror groups have local legitimacy, prolonging the conflict[12].

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3. ET Bureau, "Behind the Information Curtain: Kashmir Has Learnt To Work around Social Media Ban", 2020, p. 7.
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