Overenthusiasm of some bureaucrats in Jharkhand threatens to infringe upon the right to privacy of the tech-savvy people of the State who use social media like the Whatsapp, Facebook or Twitter!
Rising cases of rumour mongering and circulation of fake news through the social media has resulted in police all over the country keeping a tab on social media communications happening mainly through Whatsapp groups informally, but some overexcited Deputy Commissioners and Superintendents of Police of the state went too far into snooping mode on the pretext of keeping an eye on mischief mongers.
Going overboard, they are going on record asking all admins (administrators of social media groups like WhatsApp) to add a police officer of their respective police stations in their groups.
Maintaining it was necessary to keep strict vigil on information disseminating on the social media, Hazaribagh Deputy Commissioner Ravi Shankar Shukla has issued a Do’s and Don’ts that makes it mandatory for all group admins to “must include respective officer in charge/police officer” in the group.
This special guideline is besides the regular directions issued by the administration on regulating the social media groups.
Same way the East Singhbhum Police (Jamshedpur) have on Friday directed all group admins to compulsorily add the WhatsApp number of Jamshedpur Police (709191825) as a member of their groups today itself. The move is aimed at keeping a check on the destructive and anti social elements. The group admins have been asked to “seriously consider the request” of the East Singhbhum Police.
The communally sensitive Hazaribagh and Jamshedpur cities of Jharkhand may not be the exceptions. It is not known if officials of other districts have also issued such instruction, but the direction of Hazaribagh and Jamshedpur forces one to wonder how the already overburdened Jharkhand cops would be able to keep an eye on thousands and thousands of Whatsapp/Facebook groups?
A retired police official said there cannot be such a direction. “It is illegal. It is an infringement of the right to privacy of people. The police can certainly ask the admins to remain vigilant, which they do already. There are various laws for action against admins and people who spread fake news or provocative information, but you cannot be officially in every social media group,” he said.
The retired official also added that police of many States have informally got added in social media groups to keep an eye on the flowing messages. “Presence of a policeman also regulates the members and they abstain from spreading unverified information,” he added.
A homemaker from Jamshedpur said she was member of at least 20 groups. “God, what not we share especially in our girlie groups. How can the police keep on reading our messages? We are responsible citizen. We chat, sometimes non-veg too, but such messages never affect the social fabric of my city or the country or the universe,” she quipped.
A JVM politician Yogendra Pratap said he had heard that unable to check crime and rising attacks on businessmen and traders, the Lucknow district administration had asked them to take training in handling firearms and in taking pistol licenses. “Same way, a former supercop of Ranchi had made it mandatory for all two wheeler owners to put double locks in their motorcycles. The police are there to provide security, what will they do if all the work is done by the people themselves,” he asked. Pratap said Whatsapp or Facebook have become parts of our lives and the government can certainly regulate them, but cannot enter into the private lives of the common people forcible and illegally.
When asked, Jharkhand Police spokesperson RK Mallick feigned ignorance about any such direction. He said he would look into it and take necessary action.
(With inputs from Parvinder Bhatia and Viswendu Jaipuriar)