Indian Army Gets Direct Permission to Manage Social Media Content

The Indian Army has been granted direct supervision to manage the social media content about its operations and public image, an important step in controlling the online narratives about military activities. This move has been followed by the Indian Defense Ministry’s decision to appoint a senior officer from the Additional Directorate General of Strategic Communications (ADG SC) as the “Nodal Officer” for this project.

It is now possible for the Nodal Officer to direct request to remove unlawful content from social media sites on exercising the provision of Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act by the fact that the Army need not approach the MeitY whenever it intends to remove or block the contents. Handling of specific cases can go directly to social media site managers by the ADG SC, thus saving response time and overcoming bureaucratic delays which had earlier thwarted the Army’s approach towards addressing issues.

Indian Army Can Now Delete or Manage Social Media Content

This enhanced independence will enable the ADG SC to directly alert the concerned platforms about the type of content that needs to be filtered out and work directly with their intermediaries dealing with such requests. The new approach is particularly tailored to make the Army respond much faster to the problem at hand by not involving so many agencies before the problem is solved.

Recent developments under this proactive approach include an order by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to The Caravan to delete an article that made contentious allegations against the Army. Section 79 of the IT Act vests various government agencies with takedown request powers with very minimal restrictions so that swift action can be taken to preserve the integrity of the institution.

According to legal experts, this is a step that the Indian Army is taking toward protecting its reputation in an age of digital proliferation, paving the way for other international defence organizations. Analysts feel that this action reflects an intention of India to seek a balance between democratic openness and protection for its military, which may become the benchmark for Western nations wanting similar protection.