'On rare occasions, the Indian government—which prides itself on visions of universal digital literacy, online services, and biometrical identity schemes—still conducts certain official communications by radiogram. An operator sitting at a radio transmitter taps out a message, and then a receiver spits out the transmission in another part of the country, generating an instant legal document.
'Messages urging people to “thrash the anti-nationals” in JNU allegedly did rounds of some WhatsApp groups in the hours leading up to the violence on campus Sunday. The Indian Express managed to contact six people from whose mobile numbers the messages threatening violence were made in the groups. Out of the six, three said someone else may have “misused” their number to post the messages, one said his “friend posted the message”, two others said they entered the groups to “provide intel”.
'...Scroll.in examined screenshots of WhatsApp messages that were shared by social media users. Using Truecaller, an app that enables the identification of mobile phone users, and Facebook, the identity of some of the people exchanging messages about the violence was traced. The number associated with the message – “We entered their hostels and beat them up” – was traced to Saurabh Dubey over Truecaller. His Facebook profile shows he is an assistant professor at Shaheed Bhagat Singh Evening College of the University of Delhi. He manages a group called “JNUites for MODI”.
'“The enemy is not just on the other side of the border, but inside the house as well, living like a termite,” read a message that landed in the WhatsApp group of the Resident Welfare Association (RWA) of an East Delhi neighbourhood earlier this month.
“Termite” is the word that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Amit Shah, now India’s Home Minister, had used to describe persons living without papers in the country in an election speech he gave in April.
' In an official communication dated December 24, seen by Scroll.in, a government department cautioned employees against taking political stands on social media. In the order, issued by the state’s elementary education department, employees were warned there would be disciplinary action against those “indulging and participating in political activities” on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and Instagram”.
'Hounding of senior officers, protests across the country and attempts — perceived and real — to change the constitutional ethos of the country have sparked a kind of unrest among civil servants, who have taken to WhatsApp groups to share their concerns and grievances. Several IAS, IPS and IRS officers who ThePrint spoke to said there is a palpable sense of vulnerability, insecurity and concern among officers, which they are wary of expressing publicly, but do so in the safety of closed WhatsApp groups with their peers from the services.
'With protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) continuing on educational campuses across the country, the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development has asked all technical education institutes and universities to keep a tab on the social media accounts of students and teachers. The educational institutions have been asked to monitor Twitter and Facebook accounts, and also WhatsApp groups, of students and teachers to keep themselves abreast of the activities happening on the campuses in the wake of the CAA.
'Last week, when Union home minister Amit Shah defended the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (now Act) in parliament, he dismissed concerns that it was targeting India’s Muslims and asked the community not to have any fears.
'WhatsApp accounts belonging to Kashmiri users have begun to expire as the region completed 120 days of an internet blockade on Tuesday. The social media platform deletes accounts that have stayed inactive for that long. Several Twitter users shared screenshots showing that friends and family members based in Kashmir had exited WhatsApp groups they had been part of – most likely without their knowledge. A Facebook spokesperson confirmed to BuzzFeed News that the disappearances from WhatsApp groups were the result of the company’s policy on inactive accounts.
'At the start of this month we asked the following question: Can the Indian government confirm it did not use WhatsApp spyware on Indians? We weren’t the only ones. A group of journalists, lawyers and human rights activists that had been targeted by the spyware, known as Pegasus, wrote to the government two weeks ago asking the same question. The matter was also brought up in the Parliamentary Committee on Information Technology, despite an attempt to prevent a discussion by the Bharatiya Janata Party members. And Members of Parliament have put the question directly to the government...
