Gujarat Police restricts cops from posting uniformed content on social media

Gandhinagar: Gujarat Police chief DGP Vikas Sahay has in a circular addressed to all police commissioners, range DIGs and district police chiefs (SPs) informed that no police staffer is allowed to make videos and reels for social media platforms on-duty or off-duty wearing a police uniform.

A 17th August circular by DGP warns policemen against making videos for social media when wearing uniforms. Violation of this order would attract legal action, the circular further warns.

The state police had issued guidelines in July 2023 to regulate the online behavior of its personnel. However, these guidelines were not effectively enforced. The directive emphasizes that police officers, even when off-duty, should refrain from creating or sharing videos or images in their police uniforms. Such posts negatively impact the police force’s reputation. Similarly, the state police introduced a code of conduct in July that prohibits personnel from expressing political opinions or engaging in anti-government activities on social media. The code also warns against sharing content violating the Official Secrets Act, 1923, or the Information Technology Act, 2000, with disciplinary actions for non-compliance.

These regulations extend to posts on various social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Telegram, and YouTube. Such a circular was issued around two years ago also. DeshGujarat