New Delhi: The Uttar Pradesh police is enlisting social media ‘influencers’ and college students as “digital warriors” to publicise its work and bust fake news and tackle cyber crimes.
At present, around 18 lakh citizens are connected as “digital volunteers” for the police, said director general of police (DGP) Prashant Kumar. Over two lakh police personnel are also connected to them through various community groups on Whatsapp, said a police spokesperson.
The police in the Adityanath-led state had first launched a similar project in 2018, when it mobilised “digital volunteers” from different sections of the society to report crime, rumours, fake news and other illegal activities through Whatsapp groups. Last year, the police also added its personnel to these “Whatsapp Community Groups” to refute “misleading news” and publicise the “commendable work” done by them.
Now, with the Maha Kumbh Mela 2025 round the corner, the state police have launched a new campaign to enlist students as well as social media influencers as “digital warriors.”
“It was felt that social media is not restricted to just Whatsapp but also exists on other platforms. Digital volunteers were available only on Whatsapp. Considering the threat of cyber crimes, we have started a new concept of digital warriors to check fake news and build awareness about cyber crime,” said Kumar.
The Uttar Pradesh police have clarified that the work done by digital warriors would be voluntary and unpaid.
In 2018, when the police started recruiting “digital volunteers,” they picked their candidates from among teachers, principals, retired soldiers, police pensioners, journalists, social activists, present and former councillors, present and former village heads and block development council members, student leaders, ASHA workers, village secretaries, doctors, kotedars, ANMs (Auxiliary Nurse Midwives), lawyers, top traders, priests and maulvis, homeguards, etc.
Among their duties was to report untoward incidents to the police immediately; report and refute rumours by informing general public about the “correct facts” personally and through social media; report any suspicious person or outsider staying in a hotel or on rent; report miscreants sitting unnecessarily at shops or carts around schools, colleges and coaching institutes; report any matter related to law and order in connection with fairs and festivals; inform the police if accused persons who are out on bail engage in criminal activities and to cooperate with the police in convincing people who stage dharnas or demonstration out of anger in case of any accident or untoward incident.
The digital warriors would have more focused roles. According to the Uttar Pradesh police, the digital warriors would be categorised into four groups. They will refute fake news and alert against cyber crime, create awareness about cyber crime as cyber trainers and publicise the campaigns and “commendable work” of the police.
Shakti Singh, a social media ‘influencer’ who runs a page with more than 4.45 lakh followers on Instagram, said he was looking forward to playing the role of a digital warrior.
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“Our job is to prevent fake news and fake websites from spreading. And to show the work of the Uttar Pradesh police, which is dedicated to our service 24 hours,” he said.
As part of the campaign, the police will organise workshops in universities, degree colleges, schools or police lines to train digital warriors and school students to identify fake news and cyber crimes and their ill effects. Cyber crime experts, fact checkers, cyber trainers and district cyber police stations and cyber cells will be included in these workshops, where they will share technical knowledge and practical experience, said police. All schools, colleges and university management would be asked to establish Cyber Clubs and a teacher would be nominated as the nodal officer.
Prabhat Chaturvedi, a university student who was enlisted as a digital warrior, said the campaign was involving youth like him to “contribute to the nation’s security.” “It creates a positive approach towards the police and a message is being sent to the youth that we can use it not just for entertainment purposes but also for the society and security of the nation,” he said.
Uttar Pradesh police said that by training students, “critical thinking” can be developed in them, so that they can analyse and verify any information. The police conducted a pilot experiment of the campaign ahead of the Maha Kumbh 2025 in Prayagraj and decided to launch it across the state.
A monthly report of the work done by the digital warriors – fake news identified, publicity of work by the police and wide dissemination of denials by the police – would be compiled and analysed.
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These efforts to involve social media influencers by the Uttar Pradesh government are not isolated. Earlier this year, the Adityanath government approved a controversial new digital media policy incentivising positive coverage about its work by social media influencers and digital platforms while threatening legal action against content that it deems to be “objectionable” or “anti-national.”
The state cabinet approved the Uttar Pradesh New Digital Media Policy, 2024, which mandates legal action against digital platforms or influencers who upload “objectionable content” on sites such as Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter) and YouTube.
On the other hand, it made it lucrative for digital platforms as well as ‘influencers’ to propagate the “achievements” of the state government and promised them advertisements. Digital media platforms and influencers can earn up to Rs 8 lakh a month for video content that propagates the “achievements” and other development work and schemes of the government.
And more recently, as reported by The Wire, the government sent out a list of 70 story ideas to media editors spoon-feeding them on how to cover the Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj and publicise the work done by the ruling party, in particular chief minister Adityanath.
