MHA calls for volunteers to flag 'anti-national' content online

The cybercrime cell of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) announced a controversial new programme wherein citizens can participate as volunteers to identify, flag and report illegal content online to the government. Child sexual abuse material, rape, terrorism, radicalisation and other ‘anti-national’ activities come under the purview of ‘illegal content’. The pilot programme will be kicked off in Jammu, Kashmir and Tripura, and based on the results, will be implemented in other parts of the country.

According to reports, interested volunteers will be able to register themselves with their respective states and union territories while the  MHA’s Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (14C) will act as the nodal point. Interested volunteers must provide personal details such as their name, father’s name, address, and mobile number, but their information will not be verified separately.

The MHA’s website contains several rules that volunteers must abide by while working for the programme. For instance, the volunteers are not supposed to claim any association with the MHA or use its name on any social media and they are not allowed to create social media accounts in the name of the programme. Another rule states that the volunteers must not use this programme to gain monetary benefits and must maintain confidentiality while carrying out their tasks.

Apart from policing ‘unlawful’ content, the MHA offers another volunteer-based programme—‘cyber awareness promoters’ can spread awareness and information on cybercrime among ‘vulnerable’ groups like women, children, the elderly and residents of rural areas. Cyber experts can also apply for a volunteer position to help the government with malware and memory analysis and cryptography. However, unlike the citizen volunteering programme, those who apply for promoter and expert programmes will have their personal information verified by their respective states or union territories.

While what constitutes ‘anti-national’ activities are not clearly described on the MHA’s website, the volunteers are “advised” to study Article 19 of the Indian Constitution which guarantees freedom of speech and other basic freedoms to the citizens of the country.