UPSC Mains 2016 GS Paper 3 Q20: model answer
The use of the internet and social media by non-state actors for subversive activities is a major security concern. How have these been misused in the recent past? Suggest effective guidelines to curb the above threat.
What the question wants
Explain how non-state actors have misused the internet and social media for subversive activities and suggest effective guidelines to curb it.
How to structure it
Misuse with examples, then guidelines.
- Forms of misuse
- Recent examples
- Guidelines
How to think it through
Misuse: radicalisation (ISIS Mehdi Masroor Biswas, Bengaluru 2014 @ShamiWitness), recruitment, propaganda, planning (26/11 handlers used VoIP), funding (crowdfunding), fake news riots, Kashmir 2016 Burhan Wani glorified videos, hate speech, psy-ops. Guidelines: legal (69A, 79), platform obligations (grievance officer, takedown timelines), monitoring cells, counter-narratives, international cooperation (MLAT), digital literacy, encryption balance, safeguards for speech (Shreya Singhal 2015).
Model answer
In December 2014, Bengaluru police arrested Mehdi Masroor Biswas, a young executive who ran @ShamiWitness, one of the most followed pro-ISIS accounts on Twitter. He had never fired a gun, but his posts were read by fighters and recruits around the world. That is the new face of subversion.
How non-state actors misuse the internet
- Radicalisation and recruitment through videos, chats and online 'mentors'.
- Propaganda that glorifies violence, as the videos of Burhan Wani did before his death in 2016.
- Real-time coordination: the 26/11 attackers took orders from handlers over VoIP calls.
- Funding through online donations, crowdfunding and crypto.
- Fake news and doctored videos to start riots.
- Hacking and defacement of government websites.
- Encrypted apps that hide planning from investigators.
- Doxxing and threats against officials, journalists and their families.
Guidelines to curb the threat
- Clear legal basis: blocking under Section 69A, with the safeguards upheld in Shreya Singhal (2015).
- Platform duties: quick takedowns, grievance officers and data sharing with police on lawful requests.
- Dedicated cyber cells to monitor open-source content.
- Counter-narratives from community leaders and former extremists.
- International cooperation and MLATs, since servers sit abroad.
- Digital literacy in schools and colleges.
- Protect free speech: act against incitement, not dissent.
A tweet can recruit faster than a training camp; the response has to be just as fast but far more careful.
Draw: A flow: online content → engagement → radicalisation → action, with guidelines at each stage.
Keywords, cases and data to drop in
@ShamiWitness 2014, Mehdi Masroor Biswas, Burhan Wani 2016, 26/11 VoIP handlers, crowdfunding, encrypted apps, Section 69A, Shreya Singhal 2015, Section 79, MLAT, counter-narratives, digital literacy.
Where most answers lose marks
- Proposing blanket bans on the internet; the examiner wants effective, legal and balanced guidelines.
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Question text as printed in the official UPSC Civil Services (Main) question paper. The model answer is original Battle IAS work; use it to learn structure, not to memorise.
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