Thread by @internetfreedom

Is the government really going to make us spy on each other through a 'cyber volunteer' program?

We have answers. This is called 'lateral' i.e. peer-to-peer surveillance. Thread on the program and concerns we sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs.

internetfreedom.in/cyber-voluntee…
1/n

Under MHA, Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre's program allows citizens to register as Unlawful Content Flaggers and report online content. This will help law enforcement identify, report and remove it.

It will be launched countrywide with test runs in J&K and Tripura.

2/n

Lateral surveillance is a practice where instead of a State surveilling citizens, we are incentivised to surveil each other. This will lead to a culture of suspicion, social distrust, and cyber vigilantism.

Read the 2021 paper outlining this:

cis-india.org/internet-gover…

3/n

The program has no legal framework to regulate its functioning, so the risk of misuse increases. There is no information about how authorities will ensure appropriate use, or ensure authenticity of reports. There is no process in place for withdrawal of complaints.
4/n

Anyone can register as a Flagger without prior KYC verification, and the position is voluntary. This absolves authorities of liability in case of misuse. It is against duties laid out by the SC for States to lessen social disaffection and develop law enforcement capacity.
5/n

The offences in the scope of this program are already cognizable and can be reported to the police by anyone. There is hence confusion about the actual need for such a program, and the need for special volunteers.
6/n

What is this vague "unlawful content"? Tripura and J&K press circulars ask volunteers to report radicalisation and anti-national activities. This violates SC's Shreya Singhal decision that speech restrictions shouldn't be used by States to criminalise free speech online.
7/n

In the 50s, the Socialist Unity Party of Germany had a Ministry for State Security called the Stasi. To stop dissent, it had citizen informants spy on their loved ones.

...is a cyber-vigilantism program similar?

We have recommended to MHA that it be halted immediately.

8/n