8 Dos and Don’t the Indian army has imposed on jawans using Facebook and Whatsapp after Pathankot at

[Zarvan]

After the Pathankot attack, the Indian government has gotten extremely strict and has decided to tamp down on all social activities and chats of army jawans, and to make sure that no sensitive information is passed out through chats with friends and family members. Though the jawans are not completely banned from using these social media sites, they have been provided with a long list of dos and don’ts (the don’ts definitely being much longer and tedious) and each jawan will have to strictly abide by the rules.

The social media activities of jawans will be constantly and closely monitored and they will have to abide by rules. Though these are the initial rules, the upcoming months may see more restrictions on the use of social media technology among jawans for the secret of the nation.

1. Only using the individual name Army jawans cannot use their family names or full names on Whatsapp and other messenger apps. Only individual names or acronyms or nick names must be used. They cannot disclose their identity at any point of time.

2. No mention of rank The jawans cannot mention the occupation or rank anywhere in the profile – in the photo or description. Apart from rank, they are not allowed to share even their unit number or date of appointment.

3. No mention of posting No, army jawans cannot check-in on Facebook or share their current location over Whatsapp location. They cannot even intimate anyone of a change in posting or previous postings over social media and Whatsapp.

4. Only personal messages So while funny forwards or jokes and the likes apart from casual conversational messages are allowed, there can be absolutely no informative detail disclosed over chats, even to close family members.

5. No photos in official uniform The jawans are not allowed to upload photos of themselves in uniform on social media or set such images as their IM profile pictures. Apart from no uniforms, they cannot even share photos of them holding any army weapons or equipment as it might give the enemy an idea of their expertise.

6. No joining religious and political groups The army cannot be a part of any religious and political group or like pages of such groups or showcase their political and religious preferences online. They cannot even engage with such groups and pages via personal messages, comments or likes.

7. No comments or likes on official pages Army jawans cannot engage in any way with any official or unofficial pages that share policies or talk about country’s development on social media. This means pages that share policy of Indian army, ministry of defence and government of India.

8. No online voting Army jawans cannot engage in casting any votes online or participate in any form of online government campaigns. They also cannot mention any administrative operations or engage with such pages online.

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