SRINAGAR: Two United Nations special rapporteurs urged the Indian government on Thursday to lift a ban on social media sites and mobile internet service in India-held Kashmir.

The UN special rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, David Kaye, and the special rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Michel Forst, said in a statement issued in Geneva that the ban had `disproportionate impact on the fundamental rights of everyone in Kashmir` and had the `character of collective punishment`.

Authorities in the India-held region late last month banned 22 social media sites, including Facebook and Twitter, and 3G and 4G cell-phone data services for one month in an effort to calm tensions af ter videos depicting the abuse of Kashmiris by Indian forces fuelled widespread protests. The government claimed the one-month ban was necessary for public safety because anti-India activists were misusing social media.

Forst said such blocking `disrupts the f ree exchange of ideas and the ability of individuals to connect with one another and associate peacefully on matters of shared concern`.-AP