CRPF issues social media guidelines for jawans, asks them not to make adverse comments on govt policies

New Delhi [India], August 18 : Following in the footsteps of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) issued detailed guidelines for its jawans, saying that personnel will be personally liable for the content they are sharing on social media.
CRPF advised against "use ethnic slurs, personal insults, obscenity, or engaging in any conduct that would not be accepted as a government servant, including gossips about your work and colleagues."
CRPF has also asked its jawans not to make adverse comments on government policies or make political/religious statements in any public forum and avoid posting profile photos in uniform.
The detailed guidelines have been issued in the backdrop of multiple cases pertaining to the Pakistan Intelligence Operatives coming in contact with force personnel through fake accounts on Facebook and social media websites.
While giving reasons for guidelines, the CRPF said that they have initiated these guidelines "to protect the force personnel from cyber-attacks and espionage on social media."
"Devices (Smartphones, tabs, etc.) which are used for accessing social media accounts to the critical areas of the office such as conference/meeting rooms. Do not share classified information obtained through the official channel or otherwise. Do not provide personal information that scam artists or identity thieves could use," CRPF states in its guidelines.
While mentioning the 'Don'ts', CRPF said, "Do not use the government Emblem, etc. in your posts. Do not share photographs taken while wearing identity cards or clothing accessories that would reveal information about your organization. Do not share anything through a non-authorized platform (even if it is unclassified).
"Special care should be taken with regards to sharing manpower issues, promotions, local orders, etc., which may also give an opportunity to the adversaries in gathering intelligence," CRPF stated.
"Do not use the photo in uniform as a profile picture on WhatsApp/Facebook and any other social sites. No uploading of pictures with weapons on such sites even in civvies," CRPF said.
While 'Do's' mentioned, CRPF said, "Always scan the private social media exchanges of your closed and dear ones for any breach. Official smartphones if alternatively used for personal/official communication should be encrypted using the inbuilt feature of phones and activate find my device feature of the smartphones. Smartphones should be password protected. While sharing documents/files on the cloud the information should be encrypted."