Why is it in News?
- The Indian Army has revised its social-media policy to allow “passive participation” on select platforms such as Instagram, X, YouTube, Quora, etc.
- Personnel may only view or monitor content on these platforms.
Active engagement remains banned — posting, sharing, commenting, reacting, messaging, uploading content. - Limited use of WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, Skype is permitted only for general, unclassified communication with known persons.
- Policy reiterates strict operational security (OPSEC) and warns against:
- VPNs, torrents, cracked software, proxy sites, anonymous forums, risky cloud storage.
- This replaces the stricter 2020 policy, when officers and soldiers were ordered to delete Facebook, Instagram and 89 mobile apps amid heightened security risks (including apps with China links).
Signal: The policy reflects a shift from total restriction → controlled, security-aware digital discipline.
Relevance
- GS-III | Internal Security & Cyber Security
- Operational security (OPSEC), espionage & information warfare
- GS-II | Constitutional & Governance Dimension
- Article 19(2) — reasonable restriction on speech in disciplined forces
- Article 355 — duty to ensure national security
Why Do Armed Forces Restrict Social Media?
- Operational Security (OPSEC):
- Location leaks, troop movement exposure, geotags, photos, logistics hints.
- Espionage & Phishing Risks
- State-sponsored hackers, honey-traps, identity spoofing.
- Psychological & Information Warfare
- Disinformation, profiling, cognitive targeting.
- Privacy & Data Harvesting
- Apps collecting sensitive behavioural metadata.
Core principle: Even harmless posts can reveal actionable intelligence.
Conceptual Value-Addition
- State’s Duty under Article 355
- Ensuring security of the nation includes safeguarding operational secrecy and military preparedness — social-media discipline supports this constitutional obligation.
- Reasonable Restrictions under Article 19(2)
- Army personnel, as members of disciplined forces, face constitutionally valid limits on free expression in the interest of:
- Sovereignty & integrity
- Security of the State
- Public order & discipline
- Doctrine of Institutional Discipline
- Armed forces operate on command hierarchy, confidentiality, and collective responsibility — unrestricted online expression can undermine this structure.
- Administrative Law Principle — “Proportionality”
- Shift from blanket bans (2020) to risk-based, limited relaxation reflects a proportional policy approach balancing:
- National security
- Individual autonomy
- Civil–Military Relations Perspective
- The policy reinforces that the armed forces remain politically neutral, preventing:
- political commentary
- ideological mobilisation
- identity-based polarisation via social media.
