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The Lok Sabha passed the Digital Data Protection Act 2023 with the aim of providing for the processing of digital personal data in a manner that recognises both the right of individuals to protect their personal data and the need to process such personal data for lawful purposes and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto ; but the Editors Guild of India fears it will adversely affect freedom of speech.
The legendary Greek philosopher Aristotle called “Man is a social animal”. Capitalizing on this inherent human tendency, social media facilitates the exchange of information through virtual networks. From Facebook and Instagram to Twitter and YouTube, it has created a vast field of apps and platforms that leverage online mechanisms to share information and build an active community. According to a report, about 60% of the world’s population uses social media. According to a report published in 2022, India has about 33.4% of active social media users. Gradual implementation of Digital India, Bharat Net, digital payment infrastructure and many more are bound to increase this number.
The dark side of social media is its ability to spread any event in an instant and the potential for it to have a negative impact on various sections of society. On May 4, 2023, two Kuki women were stripped naked in the streets of Kangpopki district of Manipur. The video was made viral on the eve of the monsoon Parliamentary session which created unprecedented sensation not only in India but also internationally. On 31-07-2023, another incident took place on the Jaipur-Mumbai Express, where a radicalized young RPF jawan Chetan Singh killed four innocent persons with his automatic weapon and blamed the deceased as Pakistani sympathizers through his online conversations. His recorded video was widely posted on social media. The incident demonstrated the power of social media to create retaliatory situations by creating tensions in parts of the country. All these and many other fake and deep fake videos show the danger posed by unrestricted social media use and its implication in internal security.
Though privacy is pronounced as fundamental right by a 9-Judge Bench in KS Puttaswamy case increasing conflict between individual freedom vis-a-vis national security has become pronounced with increase activities in cyberspace. This calls for very strict regulation in use of social media.
The Kerala Police had implemented a project called Cyberdome in the last decade and its mission is “to create a platform that brings together government departments, law enforcement agencies, industry, academia, international agencies and public end experts for collaboration on cyber security to enhance the state’s capacity in dealing with cyber threats and secure state digital assets ”. The centre handles (1) cyber intelligence (2) cyber security or planning to protect departmental systems, networks and information in cyberspace (3) incident response – attacker identification, damage assessment and project tools, techniques and resources taking adequate steps to minimize losses using. (4) Cyber Forensics – Provide technical support for investigative teams dealing with cybercrimes (5) Research and Development – Research cyber threats in collaboration with cyber security as well as academic partners. (6) Training and awareness creation – Providing periodic awareness to police personnel about the latest developments and trends in the cyber world and educating the public about cyber security.
The increasing threat of cyber threats poses challenges for law enforcement agencies and requires the training and deployment of adequately skilled police officers to deal with the evolving threats. By its very nature, cybercrime is borderless – this creates difficulties in criminal investigations and makes it more difficult for law enforcement authorities to identify the perpetrators. Addressing cybercrime effectively requires adequate cross-border measures and international cooperation and mutual support within law enforcement agencies, and between other agencies.
Viral, fake and ‘deep fake’ videos that are currently circulating in the cyberworld pose a very difficult challenge to security agencies: it is therefore time to address them effectively through the cyberdome.
Assam is the gateway to the North East and an important territory bordering Bangladesh, Myanmar and China. In this context, in July 2020, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval discussed with IPS trainees at the Police Academy-Hyderabad how civil society could be used as a fourth generation battlefield by outside forces. There is a striking similarity between this threat mentioned by Doval and the one of the four threats mentioned by Chanakya, ‘internal threats due to external influences’
It is the responsibility of the Government of Assam to take the Cyberdom project inaugurated in Assam in July 2018 seriously and implement it effectively by incorporating the best elements of cybersecurity from Kerala, Telangana and Delhi, harness the positives of social media and mitigate the negative elements through strong cyberdom project.
These pieces are being published as they have been received – they have not been edited/fact-checked by ThePrint.