NEW DELHI: Digital rights activists have raised serious concerns over the "arbitrary" FIR filed against "several" social media users in Jammu and Kashmir for bypassing internet firewall through virtual private network (VPNs). One of them said, the move was “illegal”.“Filing FIRs for the use of VPNs is illegal. Prosecution under 66A is unconstitutional. Right now I am talking to lawyers on how to extend help. Actions will be taken only with care based on actual needs of local users, factual inputs and legal merits,” tweeted Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) executive director Apar Gupta.Technology lawyer Mishi Choudhary pointed out that it has been 198 days since internet was shut in Kashmir. “Despite a Supreme Court judgment, all that the authorities have done is to allow for a few whitelisted websites and 2G connections keeping the internet shutdown in effect the same. This clampdown on free speech and expression is bound to force people to get their voices out in different ways," said Choudhary. She added that "instead of using state power to book users as criminals for speaking, we should allow the Internet to work like any democratic society.”Digital rights activist Nikhil Pahwa said the move was “authoritarian”. "The police's argument about VPNs is unfounded because accessing the internet cannot be an illegal activity just because the government has blocked or shut down internet access. Services were suspended but if someone found a way around it, they were within their rights to do so," he said, adding that VPNs are used to protect users from "surveillance mechanisms" and restricting their use would infringe upon people's rights to privacy and free speech.Lawyer Gautam Bhatia wrote on Twitter, “Absolutely illegal from the J&K govt. The UAPA cannot be invoked against people for the crime of using VPNs and accessing social media. At best, it's a circumvention of a Telecom Suspension Order, for which… there is no prescribed penalty.”IFF also pointed out that there is “no publicly available blocking order prohibiting VPNs under Section 69A, IT Act.” “IFF had filed an RTI with DeitY and DoT in Feb 2019 seeking information about prohibition on use of VPNs but we only received vague and evasive responses. The recent orders passed by J&K Home Dept under Telecom Suspension Rules 2017 prohibit use of VPNs but there is no penalty prescribed under the Rules for violation,” the organisation tweeted from its verified handle."The FIR will have a chilling effect, which will make people self-censor themselves. For a population that is slowly coming out of a six-month-long communication blockade, it sends a message that they should not even voice their legitimate dissent. The move is undemocratic," Gupta further told TOI.J&K police, in a statement, announced that it had invoked the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act against people using social media. Internet users were also charged under section 66A of the IT Act, which had been declared "unconstitutional" by the Supreme Court in 2015. Previously, the section was used to punish "offensive" messages sent through a computer of any digital communication device and could fetch three-year imprisonment and a fine.