Army Warns Ex-Servicemen Against Misconduct On Social Media; Pension May Be Stopped

New Delhi: The Indian Army has taken note of the conduct of some ex-servicemen on social media and issued a warning about possible withholding or withdrawing pensions, and registration of police cases as well.

ThePrint reported, quoting sources, that the Army came to know of some ex-servicemen posting certain videos on their media handles to “incite and converge public opinion on matters related to service life, service conditions and service privileges.”

The Army’s Discipline and Vigilance branch issued a note in May which stated, “The internal reports received in the organisation have warned of such videos to be detrimental to the image of Army, being defamatory in nature.”

The note was sent to various Command Headquarters, who were alerted that certain videos “could spread a false narrative and have the potential to create officer-men rift and if left unchecked, it may create mistrust and disharmony amongst the ranks and file.”

The Army is concerned that such posts could influence public mindset which may have serious ramifications and cause a “divide in the organisational structure which is prone to exploitation by inimical forces”.

These damaging posts often get picked up by local channels, and could go on to become national and international news if the trend for such content is not arrested, the Army felt.

“With regard to flagging and filing of court cases, videos with ‘objectionable content’ could come to be flagged with the Channel Regulator. Similarly, a social media channel could be flagged with the platform regulator to block the video and even the channel,” the note stated.

The Army won’t hesitate to file a “suitable case” in court to bring down the video or channel, the note added.