In Constant Surveillance: Govt Allows Citizens To Report Anti-National Activity On Social Media

Every day, we get closer and closer to living in a surveillance state, as if stuck in Orwell’s dystopian reality 1984 where thinking against the regime itself is a crime. In a new pilot project launched by the Ministry of Home Affairs, citizens in Tripura and Jammu and Kashmir can now enlist themselves as cyber volunteers to identify, report, and flag the Government directly about unlawful and illegal content, which includes terrorism, child pornography, rape, radicalisation and anti-national activities. This move comes shortly after Uttarakhand and Bihar police have decided to deny passport verification to those who post anti-national content on their social media.

“Under this programme, the MHA’s Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) will act as a nodal point while volunteers can register themselves with their states or union territories to act as cyber volunteers,” reported The Indian Express. They further went on to inform that, “The Government does not yet have any clear legal framework on what constitutes anti-national content or activity, and often uses provisions under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) to either detain or jail those accused of ‘anti-national’ activities.”

The highly controversial move will essentially give excessive powers to fellow citizens without any appropriate legal framework to prevent its misuse. On consulting with a senior lawyer who deals with cyber-crime cases, The Indian Express also reported, “There are multiple aspects to this notification. Firstly, there are no legal definitions of anti-national content or activity, either by the government or the judiciary. That is one big grey area. Secondly, giving people the option to report fellow citizens gives too much power without adequate checks and balances. What if I report you and get it reported by multiple people to settle my differences with you?”

The volunteers are expected to “maintain strict confidentiality of task assigned/carried out by him /her,” according to the MHA directive on the registration portal. Th cybercrime division in the notice seeking registration also states, “The State Nodal Officer of States/UTs also reserves the right to take legal action … against the volunteer, in case of violation of terms and conditions of Cyber Volunteer Program.”

With no transparency in the process or the framework of the project and terms like radicalisation and anti-national activities falling under the draconian and outdated colonial-era UAPA law, who knows how far this will go in silencing voices of dissent rather than preventing cybercrimes.

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