Cyber volunteer programme rolled out for ‘cyber hygiene promotion’: MHA

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday that a “cyber volunteer” programme has been rolled out for “cyber hygiene promotion” and the services of volunteers would be utilised by the State police as per requirement. The MHA, through its cyber crime grievance portal- cybercrime.gov.in, aims to raise a group of “cyber crime volunteers” to flag “unlawful content” on the Internet. Various groups, including the Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF), have expressed concern that the programme enables a culture of surveillance and could create potential social distrust by encouraging civilians to report the online activities of other citizens.