Social media curbs tightened as Indian Army restricts Instagram activity for soldiers

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): The Indian Army has made a major and significant change to its social media policy. Now, army soldiers and officers will be able to use Instagram, but there will be strict restrictions on their activities. According to the new orders, soldiers will only be able to scroll/view content on Instagram, but they will be completely prohibited from posting any kind of content, liking photos, or commenting on any posts. According to sources, these instructions have been issued to all units and departments of the army. Other rules regarding digital activities will remain in effect as before.

The main objective of this new system is to keep soldiers informed of the content on social media so that they can understand the narrative and information circulating there. If a soldier sees any misleading, suspicious or fake post on social media, he will have to immediately inform his senior officers. The Army believes that this will help in strengthening internal vigilance against information warfare and disinformation. In fact, in the last few years, many cases of honey trap and inadvertent leakage of sensitive information have come to light, after which strict restrictions were imposed on social media for security reasons.

Recently, during the "Chanakya Defence Dialogue," Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi spoke extensively on this issue. He identified the Gen-Z generation's conflict with social media as a challenge, saying that smartphones have become a necessity in today's times. Soldiers are deployed in remote areas, making phones essential for paying children's school fees, checking on their parents' health, or communicating with their wives. Explaining the difference between "react" and "respond," the Army Chief said, "We don't want our soldiers to get involved in hasty online debates, so they are only allowed to view platforms like Twitter and now Instagram, but not to register their presence there."