Big Brother’s Watching

There was a small kerfuffle last week over a letter sent from the HRD ministry to higher educational institutes to “connect all the students’ Twitter/ Facebook/ Instagram accounts” with those of their school and the ministry. Some 900 universities and 40,000 colleges are expected to comply with the ‘request’. The aim, ostensibly, is for the colleges to “share their achievements”. To this end, each institution is expected to appoint a so-called social media champion. Why a government needs to tell institutions to publicise their achievements online is unclear, as is the need for a point person to both control the institution’s social media outreach and liaise with the ministry. Even more baffling is why each student’s social media account must be linked to their institution and the ministry. What if you don’t want to ‘follow’ your college or the ministry? The ministry says students don’t have to comply and that its aim is to encourage the sharing of positive news rather than keep an eye on individual handles or to monitor students’ political views. But why should students use their personal social media accounts to spread government-approved ‘positive’ messages? And what counts as positive? Can, for instance, a school publicise a student art show even if it includes politically radical, anti-establishment work? Is the ‘social media champion’ the only person who operates the institution’s accounts and shares content with the ministry, or is the SMC part of a team? The education department insists there is no cause for suspicion or alarm, but its wording is clumsy. Some students will no doubt feel their private spaces are being infiltrated, that the government and its positive messages are becoming all-pervasive. And would they be wrong?