Ban on social media use by defence personnel remains, Delhi High Court dismisses plea against it

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday said it would not interfere in the government’s decision to bar defence personnel from using social networking websites, including Facebook and Instagram, citing national security concerns.

The high court gave the order while dismissing a senior army officer’s plea. Lieutenant Colonel P K Choudhary had sought a direction to the Director General of Military Intelligence to withdraw its June 6 policy by which all Indian Army personnel were ordered to delete their accounts from Facebook, Instagram and 87 other applications.

Pronouncing the order, a bench of justices Rajiv Sahai Endlaw and Asha Menon said warfare in today’s world was not confined to “accession of territory” but extended to affecting the economy and “inciting civil unrest” by enemy nations.