India’s Service Chiefs are right to be worried about the potentially dangerous impact of social media. Apart from the fact that excessive media usage can impair operations — already pilots are flying sleep deprived, thanks to excessive hours on social media — there is also the threat of military men being vulnerable to a well thought out cyber-attack. Stationed in remote locations, which often have no contact with the outside world, they could well fall prey to a cleverly edited WhatsApp video or Facebook post designed to defeat the enemy from within. It may not work but it can certainly have negative consequences if soldiers are not trained adequately to guard against them. The problem is that little has been done on this front. Despite grand sounding declarations to the media, a plan of action to institute a cyber-command has not been carried out. 

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As a result, India is behind other major countries which have their forces onto the digital bandwagon. Apart from offensive manoeuvres such as disabling WiFi in enemy territory, military men are being given training in combating “psychological warfare”, which is what a potential fake news attack can and will unleash. The idea is to train them to see social media as a potential enemy and be wary and alert about what s/he sees online. If that is done immediately, social media usage is likely to fall voluntarily. It is important, however, to understand that what may work in other countries may not be a good strategy in India. The Service Chiefs and the government need to study what is the popular social media doing for and to the forces, and effectively put in checks and balances. This is the need of the hour, for if it is not carried out, soldiers would remain at the mercy of the cyber-terrorists and other groups with vested interests.