Indian Army changes social media policy, but with a catch: All you need to know

The Indian Army on Thursday amended its social media policy, now allowing its personnel to access apps like Instagram under certain conditions.

According to defence officials, personnel will only be allowed to access social media apps for “purposes of viewing and monitoring", as per an ANI post on X.

This means that they can simply browse through these apps, but cannot comment their views on anything.

More specifically, in the case of messaging apps like Skype, WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal, Army personnel can exchange "unclassified information of a general nature", but only with contacts they know.

"Responsibility for correctly identifying the recipient lies with the user," the report pointed out.

However, in the case of social networks like X, Quora, and Instagram—as well as media apps like YouTube where one can comment publicly—the Army has only allowed "passive participation" to obtain information. Personnel cannot comment their views here, or upload their own content.

As for LinkedIn, which is a special case because it is a social network, but is also formal and used for finding and offering jobs—as well as building a professional network—the Army has said that it can only be used for "uploading a resume for obtaining information on potential employees/employers".

Notably, till 2019, Indian Army personnel were not allowed to be part of any social media group/platform.

These rules were further tightened in 2020 after several cases of social media misuse (such as in honey trapping).

Even now, the Indian Army's only (public) online presence had only been its official social media accounts, and those of retired personnel.

However, with the advent of this policy change, more incumbent army officers are expected to use social media, albeit with restrictions.