Indian Army relaxes social media policy, allows ‘passive participation’, Pg12

Key Highlights:

• The Indian Army has relaxed its social media policy to allow "passive participation" on select platforms like Instagram and X.
• Active engagement such as posting, commenting, sharing, or messaging remains strictly prohibited for army personnel.
• The revised guidelines, issued by the Directorate General of Military Intelligence (DGMI), are effective immediately.
• Instagram has been formally included in the list of restricted-use social media platforms, accessible only for viewing and monitoring.

Detailed Insights:

• The updated policy permits limited use of platforms like Skype, Telegram, WhatsApp, and Signal for exchanging unclassified, general information with known and verified individuals.
• Platforms like YouTube, X, Quora, and Instagram are restricted to passive use for accessing information, with uploading content or active participation forbidden.
• LinkedIn is permitted for professional purposes such as uploading résumés and seeking employment-related information.
• Personnel are advised to avoid generic websites, pirated software platforms, free movie platforms, torrent and VPN services, anonymized websites, and file-sharing platforms.
• In July 2020, the Indian Army directed officers and soldiers to delete their Facebook and Instagram accounts, along with 89 mobile applications, due to security concerns.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Passive Participation: Accessing social media content for viewing and monitoring without active engagement.
• Operational Security: Measures taken to protect sensitive military information and activities from unauthorized access.
• Unclassified Information: Information that does not require security classification and can be shared openly.