Policing in the digital realm

The internet’s exponential growth over the last two decades has significantly transformed various aspects of our lives, enabling more efficient global access. Technological advancements, especially in fast-growing economies like India, have facilitated greater internet accessibility. This growth has given rise to social media as an essential communication tool.

Social media has influenced millions of people worldwide and become indispensable in their everyday lives. It has come to dominate our lives over the last decade. With the affordability of smartphones, access to various social media platforms has become effortless for the general population. The adoption of social media into our livelihoods is so overwhelming that many people exist primarily in the online world. This deep and persistent engagement has created both positive and negative impacts on society.

While access to information has helped people acquire knowledge from anywhere, it has also facilitated the spread of misinformation. Social media, although crucial for communication, has become a tool for criminals and anti-social elements to spread fake news and disinformation campaigns. The creation and circulation of fake information on social media by mischievous elements using fake accounts to create an illusion of public consensus towards fake information has now become rampant. Going a step further, advanced artificial intelligence technologies like deep fakes make it impossible to distinguish between real and fake photographs and videos. Cybercriminals have always been the early adopters of new technologies, posing complex challenges for law enforcement agencies in combating fake news and disinformation.

Social media is an essential tool for law enforcement agencies, especially police organisations, to connect with the general public. Responsible use of these technologies enables the police to identify and address threats, investigate crimes, and respond effectively to emergencies. No other form of communication can match the speed and reach of social media to connect police and the community. Social media analysis allows the police to collect and analyse text, photos, videos, and other material shared on social media platforms, providing a quick and widespread means to obtain evidence.

Police can leverage social media to:

Develop trust and relationships with citizens. 

Legitimise various policies and actions to bring about changes in day-to-day policing, especially in introducing new laws and rules.

Use it as an investigative tool to generate investigative leads to identify suspects.

Gather intelligence to thwart any untoward societal incidents.

Improve the image and credibility of police organisations by showcasing transparency.

Disseminate information rapidly during disasters or pandemics, ensuring citizen education and protection.

Provide correct and accurate information about fake news through fact-checking technologies.

The biggest challenge for police organisations today is to counter fake news and disinformation campaigns. In response, many state police organisations in India have set up social media monitoring cells and fact-checking teams. Social media monitoring teams access the information that is public on social media platforms for legitimate purposes. They can also send notices to social media companies and seek information about any content or posts circulated on any social media platforms by following legal processes.

Fact-checking and providing accurate information have now become two of the emerging responsibilities of police organisations. Fact-checking teams deal with fake news, misinformation, disinformation, and hate speeches on any social media platform. These teams verify the authenticity of information and posts, and if found false, correct information is shared with members of the public on all social media platforms. Dissemination of correct facts helps in maintaining peace and order in society, as citizens may not be carried away by disinformation campaigns. This can be achieved through proper coordination with law enforcement agencies and social media companies like Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Instagram, Youtube, etc. In addition to this, social media companies should also invest efforts in developing tools to identify fake news, misinformation, and disinformation campaigns to improve their online accountability. The academia also has a significant role in performing technical research for law enforcement-specific use of social media analysis tools without compromising individual privacy rights.

Going forward, police organisations in our country can leverage social media platforms to foster good relationships with citizens and enlist their cooperation in maintaining peace and order, preventing and detecting crimes, and promoting community participation in law enforcement.

(The writer is the Director General of Police, CID, Economic Offences, and Special Units, Bengaluru)