After a ban of nearly five months, internet services in violence-stricken Manipur were restored on Saturday. This was announced by Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh earlier today.

Addressing a press conference earlier in the day, Biren Singh said, “The government had suspended mobile internet services on May 3 to check the spread of fake news, propaganda and hate speech. However, with the improvement of the situation, mobile internet services will be restored across the state from today.”

The state government had imposed a ban on internet services in some districts of the violence-hit state after the ethnic clashes first erupted on May 3. The government later lifted the ban partially, allowing broadband services to function with certain conditions.

In the month of July, the Manipur Government partially lifted the suspension of internet services that were put on place after the ethnic clashes broke out. An official order of the state government said that the ‘earlier suspension of internet services on Broadband service is lifted conditionally in a liberalized manner’. 

Meanwhile, in the press conference, Biren Singh also called for the cancellation of the free movement regime that allows people residing close to both sides of the India-Myanmar border to venture 16 km deep into each other's territory without any document.