Social media use: Stricter rules for security forces

New Delhi: The Union home ministry has issued fresh guidelines to the Central paramilitary forces directing them not to share details of any secret operation or service data on any platform being used by smartphones as this could compromise security details. The ministry has warned of strict legal action if these directions are violated.

In a detailed three-page advisory, the ministry has mentioned specific instances where some personnel were found taking pictures of an ongoing or concluded ambush or operation. These pictures or details of the operation were later leaked on social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube, LinkedIn, and others.

“It has come to the notice of the government that there have been instances where mobile phones and cameras of force personnel have been used for operational coverage and sensitive material was uploaded on social media without official permission. Any such photo, video, among others are meant strictly for official use only and any unauthorised disclosure of confidential operations related information by uploading operational material onto social media sites is a serious breach of rules and may lead to charges being laid against offending force employees,’’ the guidelines states.

Ministry officials said strict legal action would be taken for any violations. However, para-military officials argued that some of the operations are carried out with assistance from other agencies like Army and the state police and these guidelines do not apply to them. Thus there could be a breach by some other security agency and the information may eventually find its way to social media platforms.

Home ministry officials claimed that they were examining the possibility that apart from central para-military forces other security forces too should follow these guidelines.