India's internet revolution is fast transforming its political, social, cultural, and technological landscape. One of the most critical factors that ensured the landslide victory of PM Modi with his razor-sharp and a straight-forward nationalist discourse, in a polity where extreme minority appeasement has been the accepted consensus, was the revolutionary role played by social media.
Following Modi’s successive landslide electoral victories, India is rediscovering itself in myriad ways. However, the advent of the internet and social media has not only been beneficial in the electoral arena, its pernicious role was clearly manifest during the Arab Spring, where Facebook and Twitter became the vehicles of revolutions, uprooting the most powerful dictators.
Internet and social media can play havoc in a case like India, which has an impressive but easily exploitable array of social, political, religious, regional and cultural fault-lines. Social media can be used to foment communal riots, civil unrest, anti-national protests, and internet campaigns. Early last year, during former US President Donald Trump's visit to India (February 2020), the Popular Front of India (PFI) and some foreign forces had reportedly, tried to orchestrate bloody communal riots using social media1. The rioters used Whatsapp group of 125 members for spreading hate messages because of its encryption facilities2. During the on-going farmers' unrest, anti-India forces, including pro-Khalistan terrorist groups, had planned to use Twitter to campaign against the government. Similarly, after the abrogation of Article 370 in J&K, Turkey and Pakistan had extensively used Youtube to radicalise the youth with provocative videos and rap songs3. It is well established that in Kashmir, the militants use encrypted communication apps for their communication.
As a result, it should not come as a surprise that India has become home to some of the most extended internet lockdowns. Between 2012 and 2020, Kashmir witnessed 300 internet lockdowns. After the abrogation of Article 370, Kashmir had the most prolonged lockdown of about 213 days4. The state of Rajasthan stands second with 72 lockdowns5.
It needs no reiteration that internet lockdowns make life immensely difficult for the ordinary citizens, even causing severe economic damages. Therefore, the question arises as to whether there could be any other way of meeting the requirments of maintaining peace and order without taking recourse to extended periods of internet lockdowns.
Participating in a recent webinar discussion on cyber threats to national security, organised by Bridge India, a British Diaspora Think-tank, Logically India, and The Quint, the author outlined the following measures to counter cyber threats, aimed at minimising the use of lockdowns as last resort, i.e., the complete internet shutdown:-
In the case of militant groups using encrypted apps for communication, the challenges become formidable. During the recent internet lockdown in Kashmir, they bypassed the ban by using VPNs. They also used TOR (The Onion Router)- based communication apps such as Conion. They operated in the dark web, which made it immensely challenging to monitor them. Reportedly, some Foreign Terrorists were reportedly using Satsleeve, a device that can link one's phone to a satellite, turning a regular phone into a satellite phone.
Initially, militants were using Telegram and Signal, as they started distrusting the WhatsApp because during the Pulwama investigation, the law enforcement agencies could retrieve the WhatsApp chats. Then, they shifted to more customised apps made by Pakistan's intelligence agencies. Some of them, like ‘Calculator’ and Skipe, are not even on Google play stores, making it complicated to track them. Skipe has the facility of VoIP, enabling the user to make a regular call on other numbers.
When the weapons coordinators and terror handlers, and FTs (Forein Terrorists) are sent to India, they meet their local handlers and ask them to download those unique and customised apps on their phones. Later, all the communication with Pakistan happens on those apps.
It is extremely tough to address this communication challenge. Hackers can hack a device by bugging it or inserting malware. However, the militants keep changing the device, and by the time one gets to know the number, they dump it and get another number. The encryption apps are highly sophisticated with strong safety features. They can be accessed only if one has access to servers. However, if the servers are in a foreign or hostile country, it is impossible to access the information. For example, recently, a Turkish app BiP was downloaded by millions of people in Kashmir8. Its servers are in Turkey, and Turkey supports the terrorist and separatists in Kashmir. So the trust factor in using BiP is high, and the challenge for us is daunting.
One way to access the details would be to identify the vendors from where the Overground Workers (OGWs) buy the phone SIM cards. The OGWs buy it only from trusted ones. However, through good HUMINT, if they are identified, the numbers can be tracked and monitored. Nevertheless, in the case of encryption apps, the militants will continue to switch to new and sophisticated apps with more advanced safety features, which will make it more challenging to track them.
(The paper is the author’s individual scholastic articulation. The author certifies that the article/paper is original in content, unpublished and it has not been submitted for publication/web upload elsewhere, and that the facts and figures quoted are duly referenced, as needed, and are believed to be correct). (The paper does not necessarily represent the organisational stance... More >>
Links:
[1] https://www.vifindia.org/article/2021/march/23/internet-lockdowns-is-there-any-other-way-out
[2] https://www.vifindia.org/author/abhinav-pandya
[3] https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/pfi-delhis-prez-secy-held-for-funding-riots/articleshow/74602504.cms
[4] https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/northeast-delhi-riots-whatsapp-group-6488320/
[5] https://nationalinterest.org/feature/china%E2%80%99s-hybrid-war-against-india-could-foment-unrest-kashmir-179895
[6] https://internetshutdowns.in/
[7] https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/greta-thunberg-toolkit-farmers-protest-fir-delhi-police-7176187/
[8] https://www.oneindia.com/india/chakravyuh-these-isis-recruits-didnt-know-who-they-were-speaking-to-1621263.html
[9] https://www.thekashmirmonitor.net/not-signal-or-telegram-millions-are-choosing-this-turkish-app-over-whatsapp/
[10] https://www.theleaflet.in/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/No-internet.jpg
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