To keep a close vigil on anti-national activities, the cybercrime cell of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has rolled out a new programme whereby citizens can participate as volunteers to identify, flag and report to the Centre illegal and unlawful content. Child pornography, rape, terrorism, radicalisation and anti-national activities would be covered under its ambit.
As per The Indian Express, the programme would be rolled out on a pilot basis first in Jammu and Kashmir and Tripura and its scale would be tweaked depending on feedback.
MHA’s Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) will act as a nodal point for this programme and volunteers will be able to register themselves with their respective states or UTs as cyber volunteers.
Those willing to get themselves registered as cyber volunteers will need to furnish personal details, including name, father’s name, mobile number and email address.
The MHA portal where one can register as a cybercrime volunteer, specifies that those who register as cyber volunteers cannot use the programme for any commercial gain or issue any public statement about their association. Volunteers have also been “prohibited from using the name or claiming association” with MHA on any public platform.
MHA directive on the registration portal also states that volunteers shall “maintain strict confidentiality of task assigned/carried out by him /her”. “The State Nodal Officer of States/UTs also reserves the right to take legal action…against the Volunteer, in case of violation of terms and conditions of Cyber Volunteer Program,” the cybercrime division says in the registration seeking notice.
Citizens have the option of registering as cyber awareness promoters, too, to spread targeted information about cybercrime in “vulnerable” groups such as women, children, elderly and those living in rural areas.
Applications are also being sought on a voluntary basis from cyber experts who can help the Centre with malware, memory analysis and cryptography.