29% okay with government monitoring social media, 20% say govt should not be criticised online

By: Anshul Vipat

More than one-third of the respondents were of the view that government monitors what people do on mobile or internet, 14 percent said it doesn't, and 52 percent were non committal to the idea

Close to one-third of Indians are okay with government monitoring social media messages, a recent study has revealed. The study, conducted by the Centre for Developing Societies (CSDS) to gauge people's opinion on social media found that majority respondents don't buy in the principle that people should be free to express their views against the government or ideas that are deemed “offensive” on social media platforms.

The survey was carried out between January and April 2022 by the Lokniti programme of the CSDS in partnership with Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS). As many as 7,463 respondents, aged 15 and above, took part in the survey, which was conducted across 19 states. The respondents included those who have social media accounts and those who do not do not have social media accounts.

Close to 29 percent of the total respondents said that they have no problem if a government monitors social media or WhatsApp messages of its citizens. The percentage of social media users who somewhat agreed to the notion was 19 percent. While 18 percent in total believe government surveillance is okay if it is on the grounds of national security. Only 23 percent of the social media respondents said government surveillance is not acceptable. Interestingly, those who opted for “no opinion” formed the majority group (with 39 percent)

Source: CSDS

More than one-third of the respondents were of the view that government monitors what people do on mobile or internet, 14 percent said it doesn't, and 52 percent were non committal to the idea.

The responses to the question on whether a person should have the freedom to express opinion against the government on social media, however offensive or objectionable it may be, threw up similar trends. Many of the respondents agreed that freedom to criticise the government over social media was considered to be “offensive”

Close to 20 percent of respondents said they fully disagree with the idea that there should be complete freedom to express opinions against the government on social media. Sixteen percent said they somewhat disagree and an equal number said they somewhat agree and 11 percent said they are in complete agreement.

Interestingly, the regional data threw similar trends. 33 percent of the respondents from North West India were strongly opposed to posting offensive ideas on social media. The percentage of such respondents in North, South and West India was 27, 19 and 21 percent respectively. 

The survey highlights the importance of the free speech debate in India and also throws up some astonishing results. The freedom to criticise and dissent are part of one’s broader freedom of speech, which is seen as fundamental to the functioning of a democracy. For citizens of a country to agree to its government keeping an eye on their own is worrisome trend. Does that mean the citizens of India are okay with an intrusive government? 

Surveillance in India, has historically been a right of the state to deploy intrusive measures to keep a check against those that the government thinks is a threat. A slew of outdated colonial laws, like the UAPA, are still used by the Indian government to muzzle many voices which are deemed “anti-government”.

While freedom of speech is guaranteed in the constitution, it is not absolute. Time and again, the government has curbed freedom of speech and expression and have even arrested individuals citing “reasonable restrictions”. In August, Muhammed Zubair, co-founder of Alt News, a fact-checking website was arrested on an “objectionable” 2018 social media post. Comedian Munnawar Faruqui’s shows were repeatedly cancelled on the charges of hurting a particular community. The detention of filmmaker Avinash Das in July for sharing a 2017 photograph of Union Home Minister Amit Shah with a tainted IAS officer is the recent most example of state undermining freedom of speech.