‘Like the Stasi’: Cyber volunteers in India silence critical voices

The Indian government’s cyber volunteers programme risks turning the country into a surveillance state, said activist Jain. — Background photo created by jcomp - www.freepik.com

The group that ran the Hindutva Watch handle on Twitter – which flagged instances of violence and bigotry from an extreme form of Hindu nationalism – had long been accustomed to being abused and trolled for content critical of the Indian government.

But even they were stunned when the account – with nearly 26,000 followers – was abruptly suspended in April this year with no reason given.