Indian Army Revises Social Media Policy, Permits ‘Passive Participation’

The Indian Army has revised its long-standing social media ban to allow “passive participation” by personnel. Soldiers can now only view and monitor content on platforms like Instagram and X, but cannot post, comment, share, react or send messages, according to The Hindu.

The new guidelines were issued by Army Headquarters through the Directorate General of Military Intelligence (DGMI) on Dec 25 and are effective immediately.

Communication apps such as Skype, Telegram, WhatsApp and Signal can be used only to share unclassified, general information with known individuals. Platforms like YouTube, X, Quora and Instagram are allowed only for passive use to access information.

LinkedIn may be used only for professional purposes such as uploading resumes or seeking employment-related information.

Personnel have been advised to avoid torrent sites, VPNs, cracked software portals, free movie websites, chat rooms, anonymised websites and unsafe file-sharing platforms.

In July 2020, the Army had ordered all personnel to delete Facebook, Instagram and 89 mobile apps over security concerns, including 59 apps linked to China.