Recruitment of cyber volunteers by police in Jammu and Kashmir causes concern

Police in Jammu and Kashmir have started recruitment for a special task force of ‘cyber volunteers’ who will patrol social media and flag posts demonstrating a tendency towards radicalisation and 'anti-national activities', an initiative which has caused considerable concern among human rights activists.

Voters queue up for the District Development Council elections in Jammu and Kashmir which were held in December 2020 after the revocation of the state's special status. © RFI / Umar Ganie

Earlier this month, the Jammu and Kashmir police issued a press release inviting people to sign up as volunteers who would keep an eye on social media in “identifying online illegal, unlawful content” and report cyber crime to the government.

Citizens, the statement said, could register in any of three categories of cyber volunteers - cyber volunteer unlawful content flagger, cyber awareness promoter, or cyber expert.

Fascism!

"The program will be piloted on a trial basis in Jammu and Kashmir, and Tripura.. The plan will grant extraordinary powers to flag any content or person as promoting radicalisation or being “anti-national” without any onus or accountability."https://t.co/ziz5lBUrgL

— carin jodha fischer (@carin__fischer) February 9, 2021

There will be no verification process for volunteers who sign up as unlawful content flagger. However, the background of the individuals who join as cyber awareness promoter or cyber expert will be checked, police said.

“The cyber volunteers will act as an extra set of eyes and ears in the virtual world for the police force,” a senior police officer told RFI, requesting anonymity.

The idea of cyber volunteers for law enforcement, however, has worried free speech activists and rights organizations who believe the concept of cyber volunteers is part of a larger enterprise of creating 'vigilantes'.

“The move will in all probability become a witch-hunt and this is a dangerous trend that could be replicated in other states,” Kavita Krishnan, a civil rights activist told RFI.

#Beware
these Id's are run by volunteer cyber cells. just to trap Kashmiris who are supporting any cause related to the Kashmir struggle. report and block such accounts and let other people know also. #Be vigilant. they are setting traps. dont get indulge in any conversation.. pic.twitter.com/DPrMjiHBak

— Kaeshur (کأشُر) (@IbnMohammad19) February 10, 2021

In the northern state of Uttar Pradesh for instance, which is ruled by the right wing Bharatiya Janata Party, vigilante groups have been peddling a theory of ‘love jihad’ which claims that Muslim men seduce Hindu women to convert them to Islam. This has effectively curbed inter-faith marriages in the state.

“By having an army of cyber volunteers, the government is only trying to legitimize vigilantism,” said Harsh Mander, a social activist who works with survivors of mass violence.

Moreover, the move comes at a time when the government has intensified a crackdown on the media and public dissent against the policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.

It recently requested that social media platform Twitter suspend accounts that were reportedly sharing misinformation and provocative content around the ongoing farmers’ protests.

Internet blackout

People of Jammu and Kashmir have faced unprecedented cyber curbs since the scrapping of its special status and after the state was bifurcated into two union territories in August 2019. 

The move is also timed with the restoration of high-speed mobile internet services in the region last week. The 4G mobile internet services were suspended across Jammu and Kashmir. Though 2G services were restored in several places, high-speed services were not restored.

The government had reportedly cited separatists and Pakistan-based terrorism as the reason to restrict high-speed internet in the region.

Journalists in the Kashmir Valley already have a tough time operating under trying conditions and there have been several instances where they have been summoned to police stations and forced to present themselves to explain their news reports.

In July last year, authorities unveiled a new media policy that gives authorities the power to give accreditation to Kashmiri journalists and news outlets, distribute government advertising and determine what constitutes false news or incitement.