Uttar Pradesh Police personnel will now have to watch their step when interacting or posting on social media. According to a new diktat on social media, cops will not be allowed to comment on the government’s policies or on political parties and leaders.
“Making comments on government or personal social media platforms over the government, its policies, programmes, political parties, political leaders, and ideologies are prohibited,” reads the diktat.
The new social media policy further prohibits the use of social media for personal use during duty hours. The prohibition includes, shooting videos and Reels in uniform and live broadcast from personal profiles.
“Use of social media for personal usage during government duty, making of video and reels on duty or in uniform, live telecast on social media or from personal profiles is banned. Police officials on intelligence operations to stay away from social media,” says the diktat.
The order also asks police officers to desist from putting out any social media post that could hurt religious sentiments or is against any caste or community.
Hindustan Times quoted in charge of UP Police social media cell, additional superintendent of police (ASP) Rahul Srivastava as saying that the latest diktat on social media usage for police officers comes in the wake of a large number of police personnel using social media platforms.
According to Srivastava, certain posts triggered controversies, leading to disciplinary action against cops. The UP Police’s social media policy was first issued in 2017 and then revised the next year. The latest diktat comes after a detailed revision. Srivastava said the new social media policy would apply to police officers of all ranks.
The new policy for police officers further restrains them from sharing pictures on social media that include criminals, police uniform, or firearms, personal events, and political affiliations. Instead, they have been directed to share blurred pictures of criminals after a media briefing of any good work by the police.
They are also prohibited from joining WhatsApp groups that propagate messages against the state government or police force and using personal mobile numbers to log into government social media accounts.
Only Closed User Group (CUG) numbers issued by the department can be used for this purpose. Additionally, they cannot participate in online voting without prior approval and must use their social media accounts in a manner that does not violate the UP Government Servant’s Conduct Rules, 1956 (Amendment 1998, 2002).