Context: Recently, the Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF), a digital liberties organisation, has written to the Ministry of Home Affairs that the Cyber Volunteer scheme will lead to a “culture of surveillance and constant suspicion in society creating potential social distrust”.

Key Concern

• IFF said there is no information on how the Ministry will ensure that scheme is not misused to extract misguided personal or political vendettas. There is also no process in place for withdrawal of complaints once submitted.
• There is no process in place for withdrawal of complaints once submitted.
• Cyber-Vigilantism: The programme will essentially result in a similar situation to the one which East Germany was in the 1950s.
• The state asking citizens to report their fellow citizens would lead to cyber-vigilantism, and would lead to peers turning against their peers to snitch on them.
• No Clear Definition: The Ministry has failed to clearly define unlawful content and content which would relate to “anti-national” activities. This could allow the volunteers to exercise far more discretion than is necessary and report on citizens who are well within their rights to post content which is critical of the State.
• Such a program seems to be in direct violation of the decision of the Supreme Court in Shreya Singhal v Union of India (2013) which highlights the need to ensure that overbroad restrictions on online speech are not used as a tool by the State to criminalise free speech on the internet.

About the Cyber Crime Volunteers Concept

• Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) has envisaged the Cyber Crime Volunteers Program to bring together citizens with passion to serve the nation on a single platform and contribute in the fight against cybercrime in the country.
• The programme targets to rope in around 500 persons to flag unlawful content on the Internet.
• Good Samaritans are welcomed to register as Cyber Crime Volunteers in the role of unlawful content flaggers for facilitating law enforcement agencies in identifying, reporting and removal of illegal/unlawful online content.
• Volunteers have been advised to study Article 19 of the Indian Constitution, which deals with freedom of expression.
• Further, the volunteer shall “maintain strict confidentiality of tasks assigned/carried out by him/her”. The State Nodal Officer of States/UTs also reserves the right to take legal action against the Volunteer, in case of violation of terms and conditions of the Program.

The volunteers are barred from issuing any public statement about their association with this program and are also “strictly prohibited” from using the name of Ministry of Home Affairs or claim to have an association with the ministry on any social media or public platform.

Additional Information

About the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre

• It has been set up under the newly created Cyber and Information Security (CIS) division of the MHA.

It has seven components:

1. National Cyber Crime Threat Analytics Unit
2. National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal
3. National Cyber Crime Training Centre
4. Cyber Crime Ecosystem Management Unit
5. National Cyber Crime Research and Innovation Centre
6. National Cyber Crime Forensic Laboratory Ecosystem
7. Platform for Joint Cyber Crime Investigation Team.

Functions

• The I4C will assist in centralising cyber security investigations, prioritise the development of response tools and bring together private companies to contain the menace.

Objectives

• To act as a nodal point in the fight against cybercrime
• Identify the research problems/needs of LEAs and take up R&D activities in developing new technologies and forensic tools in collaboration with academia / research institutes within India and abroad
• To prevent misuse of cyber space for furthering the cause of extremist and terrorist groups
• Suggest amendments, if required, in cyber laws to keep pace with fast changing technologies and International cooperation
• To coordinate all activities related to implementation of Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties (MLAT) with other countries related to cybercrimes in consultation with the concerned nodal authority in MHA.

Need for surveillance

• Asia is the region most targeted by cyber-attackers, resulting in significant economic losses. As the region continues to play a key role in the global economic market, these cyber threats are expected to increase. Over 460 million people in India currently use the internet, leaving them vulnerable to online criminals – both individuals and organised syndicates.