Jihadist Radicalisation and Counter measures: An Indian Perspective

This unique demography also indicates the unique social and political dynamic in society. Most counter/anti/de-radicalisation programs find their roots in Western and Islamic nations where the Muslim population is less than 10 per cent or as a majority. However, India with 14.4% of the Muslim population (2010) and 10.9% of the total global Muslim population. (Conrad, 2015). Therefore, any model designed for purposes of combating Jihadist ideology must consider this unique demographic setup and must appreciate the fact that exporting programs from other Western countries are bound to fail. Muslims have historically been a part of India and the majority trace their roots to the Indian soil unlike the majority of Western Muslims who have a hyphenated identity and can partially trace their ancestral roots to other countries.

     There is a lack of coherent strategy by any government in India to combat radicalisation. It is agreed upon that Hindu right-wing extremism exists in India and must be dealt with all the seriousness it deserves. However, radicalisation and de-radicalization are extremely personal processes, it is better to have different strategies as they differ on many fundamental reasons for being radicalized.

        Indian counter-terrorism approach stresses primarily on organizations and leaders. This strategy has its advantages in the short-term, but it still has its limitations. As illustrated by Taneja in his book, The ISIS Peril, the organization does not matter much, it is the ideology that is much more dangerous than any hierarchical structure (Taneja, 2019). The organization is really like any other top brand of a commodity in the market. The recruitment in an organization depends on its supposed strength and effectiveness. Earlier, it was SIMI then Indian Mujahideen, then ISIS. As evidenced by recent events in Afghanistan and Kashmir this trend is only going to rise. One of the most recent cases filed by the NIA against 17 ISIS conspirators goes onto show the capability of the ISIS ideology. The conspirators are not just young individuals but ranged from the ages of 24 to 52 years (NIA Files Chargesheeet Against 17 Key ISIS conspirators in ISIS Karnataka Module Case, 2020). This goes onto show the extent of ISIS ideology even though the organization is in complete disarray since the loss of all its strongholds in Syria and the subsequent killing of Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi by the United States special forces.

Concept – Radicalisation and Deradicalisation

      Radicalization being a very contested term should be defined clearly. An agreeable definition for different stakeholders including government, various agencies, academia, NGOs and journalists has to be defined accurately. This would be the first concrete step to fight radical and extremist content without possibly violating Article 25-28 (which guarantee religious freedom and non-interference) and Article 19 (which guarantee freedom of expression) of the Indian Constitution. This search for a definition was further muddied after the creation of a new concept of Violent Extremism. This created confusion in both academia and law enforcement agencies tasked with fighting terrorism. 

      The recent cases of radicalization via the internet make it seem new. However, radicalization via electronic means is not new. This has been the trend since the beginning of the 21st century but governments have taken it seriously only in the recent years due to the systematic usage of the internet as a recruitment tool. However, various proscribed agencies such as SIMI and IM were communicating globally via telephone. Radicalisation is not fully understood in the Indian sense narrowing it down to lack of education and poverty. The concept of radicalization has been narrowly understood and sometimes ill-defined due to politicians and journalists touting the resilience of the Indian Muslim community against radicalisation. This false perception of inherent immunity of Indian Muslim community towards violent Jihad caused law enforcement into a false sense of security and most of the attacks are because of Pakistani based groups comprising native Pakistanis. This habit of viewing Islamic radicalization in isolation without broader connections with the global Islamic jihadist movements has been one of the reasons in the early response against ISIS. This myopic view is no longer feasible as jihad is now fully globalised though the rationale for this is not difficult to understand. Highlighting or even admitting the existence of such yearning to be a part of the global jihad may propel more Muslims to make a similar effort. However, this can only act as a quick fix as It is becoming quite evident that at least 2/3rd’s of apprehended terrorists have Indian roots. (Canter et al., 2009)

Radicalization comes from the term ‘radical’. The term ‘radical’ has gone through the same shifts in meaning like ‘terrorism’ through several centuries. ‘Radicalism’ is a relative concept in society and has an impact on defining the terms - radicalization, deradicalization and counter-radicalization. (Schmid, 2013) 

      A possible solution might be incorporating a definition of radicalization on similar lines to the working definition used by the respective country. Perhaps one of the most used models in radicalization research is Wiktorowicz’s model for joining extremist or terrorist groups to better understand the process. One such holistic definition is given by Alex P. Schmid as below.

           “an individual or collective (group) process whereby, usually in a situation of political polarisation, normal practices of dialogue, compromise and tolerance between political actors and groups with diverging interests are abandoned by one or both sides in a conflict dyad in favour of a growing commitment to engage in confrontational tactics of conflict-waging. These can include either (i) the use of (non-violent) pressure and coercion, (ii) various forms of political violence other than terrorism or (iii) acts of violent extremism in the form of terrorism and war crimes. The process is, on the side of rebel factions, generally accompanied by an ideological socialization away from mainstream or status quo-oriented positions towards more radical or extremist positions involving a dichotomous world view and the acceptance of an alternative focal point of political mobilization outside the dominant political order as the existing system is no longer recognized as appropriate or legitimate.” (Schmid, 2013)

           Although the above definition is very long compared to most other definition, it does not leave any space for ambiguous interpretation making it fool proof and leaving no room for abstract interpretations. The above definition may also a find a legal ground in India as the Supreme Court adopted Alex P. Schmid’s definition of terrorism in a 2003 ruling (Madan Singh Vs. the State of Bihar) and recognises his expertise in the field of terrorism. The above definitions also generate its understandings from the widely accepted Wikorowicz’s model of radicalisation which explains in a less non-linear manner where individuals in are more susceptible to new ideas due to cognitive opening as a result of varying exogenous. In this cognitive opening, few individuals search for purpose in the form of religious seeking and fall prey into alternative interpretations of Islam. Radicalisation occurs in this context by setting a different frame or perspective.

Figure - Wiktorowicz’s diagram for joining extremist or terrorist groups

Jihadist Radicalisation in India

Radical violent Islam or “Militant Jihad? derives its authority from a particular set of interpretations of Islamic texts. This is achieved by a dismissal of the dominant, interpretative role of Islamic jurists by emphasising a literal interpretation of sacred texts with the stated objective of restoring the golden age of Islam. (Sarangi & Canter, 2009) 

     It is also important to note that arrested terrorists in India often argue that they took up violence in pursuit of justice for Muslims and/or as an act of revenge for the atrocities committed by right-wing Hindu extremists. (Canter et al., 2009). The authenticity of such claims might be questioned but it is important to understand the rhetoric or “personal reasons” to understand the process of radicalization and therefore formulate a coherent counter-radicalization policy.

       In recent years the Government of India (GoI) has taken the concept of radicalization as a serious concern and started working on a deradicalization policy in 2017 (Bhalla, 2017). As of now, the counter-radicalization on the national-level falls under the jurisdiction of the CTCR (Counterterrorism and Counter-Radicalization) Division, Ministry of Home Affairs. However, the CT-I section of the CTCR dedicated to “Action Plan for Counter Radicalization and De-Radicalization” has multiple responsibilities which include fusion of information from multiple intelligence agencies. (WorkallocationofCTCRDivision_03032020.Pdf, n.d.) The lack of coherent policy until now demonstrates the lack of manpower and urgency assigned to formulate a policy to deal with this phenomenon.

               Earlier in 2016, the Union Home Ministry had asked three States to draw up a comprehensive counterstrategy in the wake of attempts by international terrorist outfits in line with such a request, only two states i.e., Maharashtra and Kerala have rolled out policies to tackle this issue. Maharashtra government plans to teach religious texts from all sects in minority schools and teaching merits of democratic States and demerits of dictatorships as a separate chapter in the Urdu textbooks. (Vyas, 2016). The Kerala Police have identified Muslim scholars and clerics who have in depth knowledge of Quran and Hadis for implementing the various schemes of the project. The state police are also making use of the services of retired police personnel who have very good social acceptance and knowledge of Quran for implementing the project in their respective locale. The selected speakers coordinate with a special team of the Kerala Police in disseminating constitutional rights of an Indian citizen and the importance of democracy to these young listeners after the Friday prayers (Kanth, 2018). The states of Maharashtra and Telangana are also using counselling either by the police or scholars of the ideological or religious affiliation to which the individual belongs and the suspected person is monitored to prevent recidivism (Rasheed, 2016). The efficacies of these programs are yet to be studied. However, few argue deradicalization as a western concept and stigmatizes Indian Muslims. (Vyas, 2016)

         On the online frontier, India with the 2^nd highest internet penetration has 415 million internet users with 2/3^rd’s being between the age group 16-29.(Mandhavi, 2019). It has been well documented that young minds are more susceptible to radical ideas(UNDP, 2016). GoI has been using the same techniques of curbing radical content such as banning websites which host extremist content through various legislations such as the IT Act(2000)[i] and Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking for Access of Information by Public) Rules ("Blocking Rules"). However, such a whack-a-mole strategy is not feasible in the long run as they can be still accessed through use of technologies such as VPNs, Tor Browser and proxies which are available free of cost online.

          To meet the challenge posed by online radicalization, the Intelligence Bureau (IB) reportedly launched Operation Chukravyuh in late 2014. IB officers reportedly posed as Islamic State recruiters on Twitter and attempted to communicate with Indian youths who intended to join the outfit. The results produced by the initiative are not known. The IB, in any event, continues to suffer from large number of vacancies in its ranks which include, in this instance, Arabic translators. Notwithstanding the temporary excitement the project generated among select media personnel, such endeavour would always have been limited in its scale.(Routray, 2019)

        In this context the global social media industry has been doing a more efficient job on removing extremist content. The Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism(GIFCT) which was established as a group of companies, dedicated to disrupting terrorist abuse of members’ digital platforms.(GIFCT, 2017) asserts that Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter, YouTube, and others to post or find terrorism-related content – has over 200,000 pieces of unique content. 

        It must be noted that though the extremist content is removed frequently it is done according to the Terms and Services of the individual social media company. Although, social media companies remain friendly with governments. They cannot remove content unless their respective policies have been violated by individuals. For example, conflict in J&K is viewed from different perspectives by people across the globe and therefore to do not necessarily meet the definition of terrorism. However, due to an aggressive shutdown of accounts by mainstream companies, the groups migrating towards lesser known groups following global extremist practices               as illustrated by Greer, de-platforming does not solve the problem of hate speech online. This whack-a-mole only pushes the fringe population further into alternative platforms. For example, platform migration has led to extremist use of VK, the Russian Facebook-equivalent; Gab, far right-extremists’ Twitter-equivalent; and lesser-known sites that their users would move to if those platforms began regulating. A more popular platform migration can be the shift to Telegram from Twitter and Facebook. As Telegram’s campaign against channels espousing extremism continues, it is bound to migrated to a lesser known group where censorship is not done. (Greer, 2020)

         As the access of internet in Kashmir cannot be curbed indefinitely to stop extremist content online and impacts the lives of the citizens. However, it is vital to note that encrypted communications such as WhatsApp and Telegram have been used by militant groups to communicate and has deadly consequences to both civilians and military personnel as Militant groups in Jammu and Kashmir use social media to glamorise jihad and entice potential young recruits to join their ranks.(Taneja & Shah, 2019)

Earlier the Kashmir militancy was based out of political beliefs rather than religious ones. However, with the infusion of new groups such as AGH and IS-Kashmir (under IS-Khorasan) demonstrates the change in the belief system of Kashmiris. In this context, it becomes much more important to tackle this phenomenon in Kashmir.

                  There has also been migration of Kashmiri, Pakistani based groups and Ansar Ghazwat ul-Hind migrating to smaller messengers such as Hoop Messenger and Rocket.im chatrooms[ii] in the Indian context too. These smaller platforms do not have strict oversight and have extremely small review teams, making it impossible to remove or ban extremist channels.[iii] It can be argued that the scale of publishing content has been reduced but individuals in search of extremist content inevitably find it in forums where the individuals are radicalized upto the point of no return. Although, limiting exposure is a viable tactic but when done in isolation results in limited results and might lead individuals more encrypted platforms where monitoring and tracking by government agencies is impossible.

                Radical content plays an important role in the process of recruitment. This can be evidenced by the Indian Mujahideen case wherein the interrogation of the accused, Ahmed Siddibapa aka Yasin Bhatkal revealed that he made young Muslim boys watch lectures (taqreers) of Muslim leaders and fighters like Osama Bin Laden, Al Yazeed, Al Zarkawi, C Kateeb , Awlaqi from Internet. He made young Muslim boys watch these videos and read over these documents to them, so as to motivate them for sacrificing their lives in the name of Jihad (Activites of Indian Mujahideen, 2012). Anwar Al-Awlaki who was killed in a drone strike in 2011 released a series of lectures on Jihad online, these continue to appear across various platforms and remains a favourite of recruiters and radicals alike. These lectures are widely popular on apps like Telegram and are also available on torrent sites such the Pirate Bay. [iv]

Global Practices

                 India’s deradicalization and counter-radicalisation approach to Islamic extremism must be indigenous due to the uniqueness of the demographics. India is the only nation with such as a huge minority, the 2^nd largest Muslim population and is projected to become the home of the largest Muslim population by the year 2050. This is estimated to rise to 300 million making India the world’s largest home to both Muslims and 1.3 billion Hindus(Conrad, 2015). Keeping recent bouts of unrest and legislative changes with respect to Kashmir in mind, it is vital for the Government of India to brace for conflicts in future along these faultlines. A majority of Jihadi terrorist attacks on Indian soil have been orchestrated by Indians and not Pakistanis as shown by a survey conducted by Canter and Sarangi (2009).

             However, there are some best practices which can be borrowed from various countries which have been proven effective which are predicated upon basic psychology rather than on the demographic of the country at hand.

Saudi Arabia’s Sakinah campaign

                    Named after the Arabic word for religiously inspired tranquillity, the Sakinah Campaign operates as an independent, nongovernmental organization, supported by the Ministry of Islamic Affairs. Like other counter-radicalization and demobilization strategies in the kingdom, the Sakinah Campaign uses Islamic scholars to interact online with individuals looking for religious knowledge, with the aim of steering them away from extremist sources. The campaign also collects, catalogues and analyzes extremist material found online. This effort resulted in the creation of a large database of books, pamphlets and magazines, as well as a number of video and audio recordings. Not all of the materials in the collection were available in the public domain. Some documents, such as letters and other private communications, were collected for the insights they offered into the thinking within the movement. (Boucek, 2008)

                It is officially a non-governmental campaign which helps in maintaining legitimacy in circles who actively are belligerent towards the government.

Singapore’s RRG (Religious Rehabilitation Program)

                  RRG set up in 2003, is a voluntary group consisting of individual ulama and a community of asatizah (Islamic scholars and teachers) in Singapore. Initially, RRG’s primary objective was to rehabilitate detained Jemaah Islamiah members and their families through counselling. However, it has since broadened its scope to include misinterpretations promoted by self-radicalised individuals and those in support of ISIS. The RRG’s mission is to correct the misinterpretation of Islamic concepts and dispel the extremist and terrorist ideologies they have been indoctrinated with. Rehabilitation seeks to counter detainees’ ideological misunderstanding of religion and help them come to terms with the fact that they have been misled. By acknowledging the inappropriateness of their behaviour, future criminal acts can be prevented. (RRG, 2016)

            To combat the spread of radical ideology, the Religious Rehabilitation Group (RRG) launched a mobile application that lets users have one-to-one live private chats with RRG counsellors to discuss issues and concerns. Answers to frequently asked questions such as "What is jihad?" and “What is Khilafah ?”. (Koh, 2016).

PIRUS (Profiles on Individual Radicalization in the United States).

           The Profiles of Individual Radicalization in the United States (PIRUS) dataset contains anonymous individual-level information on the backgrounds, attributes, and radicalization processes of over 2,200 violent and non-violent extremists who adhere to far right, far left, Islamist, or single-issue ideologies in the United States covering 1948-2018. The PIRUS Database is maintained by an independent non-governmental organization START (Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism under the University of Maryland. (START UMD, 2019)

                   The PIRUS database has been widely used by academics all over the United States who study extremism and contributed a much better understanding and helped in policy formulation and funding.

Recommendations

           Legislating a Counter-Radicalisation law covering hate speech in both online and offline media would be the first in combating radicalisation in all its forms. One of the first steps in this law should be to define radicalization. Until then, it is vital to agree upon a working definition to create uniformity in government policies. Systematic legislation would remove ambiguities in enforcing the law while respecting the freedom of speech as guaranteed by Article 19 of the Indian Constitution.

        There has to be a better understanding regarding basic terminology such as deradicalization, counter-radicalization anti-radicalization in law enforcement at all levels. The below table illustrates the difference:

Source: (GS & Kaushik, 2018)

             Keeping the above differences in mind, most of the current policies in place to combat extremism such as the Kerala and Maharashtra models come under anti-radicalization but not under deradicalization or counter-radicalisation program.

             Keeping an eye on Urdu Vernacular press as various local newspapers written in Urdu having been openly espousing hatred towards Hindus and calls for the establishment of a Caliphate in India (Ahmad, 2016). Ahmad cites the two examples in order to underline this issue. One, Roznama Urdu Times, a Mumbai-based Urdu daily newspaper published a leading article by Muhammad Najeeb Qasmi Sanbhali in its issue dated December 26, 2015, arguing that Muslims being converted to Hinduism are justified to be killed. Similarly, Haftroza Nai Duniya, a mass-circulation Urdu weekly newspaper published a series of articles devoted to the issue of “terrorism and Islam” dated May 25-31,2015. These articles were printed anonymously, and the identity of the authors was withheld. It argued that jihad is essentially defensive in nature and all wars involving Muslims have always been because of aggression on the part of non-Muslims from the days of the Prophet Muhamad to date. It also published several conspiracy series such as Osama bin Laden’s body was chopped not pieces and thrown into mountains of Afghanistan. Surprisingly, this newspaper is published and edited by a former parliamentarian Shahid Siddiqui. (Ahmad, 2016).

              A database of extremist content must be maintained along the lines of the Sakinah campaign in order to understand extremist propaganda and minds and to formulate a better dialogue when it comes to facilitate disengagement or create counter-radicalisation policies and counter-propaganda as required.

             In regard to the above two suggestions, enhanced language training in both law enforcement and academia is very important to understand radical content. As most radical jihadist content is in either Urdu or Arabic. Government funded programs and scholarships to academia who are willing to learn the language will be able to fix this gap.

                 Creation of a database of radicalized individuals on the lines of PIRUS so as to understand radicalization in the Indian context and create a tailored approach to Indian extremists. This would be helpful in creating policies tailored to individual states and more personal approach can be instituted. This would also create transparency in the society as false perceptions are used to consolidate votes and further polarise communities to guarantee votes.

            Psychological warfare operations have to be stepped up and a general reformation of intelligence agencies is much required in India. However, the government must maintain psywar capabilities, which have longer gestations and cannot be empirically measured but must be consistently pursued and continuously honed. (Sood, 2018). Unlike kinetic operations which show immediate results such as capture or death of a terrorist, psychological operations take a longer period to show results and even then it is difficult to calculate the efficiency empirically. However, psychological operations have a significant impact on the large narrative setting. The best example being the use of cultural power of the United States in the Cold War. These psychological warfare operations have to be waged regularly in conflict-ridden areas where violence is becoming mainstream (such as Kashmir). The Intelligence Bureau which is tasked with monitoring content online is understaffed and lacks Arabic translators. According to the BPR&D, as on January 1, 2019, as against a sanctioned strength of 40,650 personnel, the IB had only 29,784 personnel in position. A deficiency of 26.73 per cent in the ‘brain’ of the security establishment is indeed worrisome. (SATP, 2020)

           Perception Management and combating fake news rapidly. Fake news has become a worrying trend in the past few years. It has taken a violent turn in India in the form of mob lynchings and riots. An efficient fact-checking forum led by the Government needs to be cultivated. Curbing Islamophobic content is also important to curb right-wing violence which acts as a push factor towards Jihadist radicalization. This was also cited as a major factor for turning towards a violent path by Indian Muslim terrorists interviewed. (Canter et al., 2009). There is also a need to monitor partisan coverage of news especially when it comes to religion but this is tricky as censoring media has always been tricky even when national security matters are involved.

           As Sahni notes, the next generation of scholars is to be created to understand terrorism from an objective and Indian perspective as most of the scholarship is from the Western or Israeli perspective. (Schmid, 2011). As argued earlier, the unique demographics and historical background are quite different, this calls for a new understanding of radicalisation in the Indian context. This must be studied with academic vigour so as to understand the phenomena in an apolitical manner.

             With a high penetration rate and the presence of widely accepted Muslim clerics such as the Grand Mufti of India, Kanthapuram A. P. Aboobacker Musliyar who was the first Muslim cleric in the world to issue a fatwa against ISIS. (“Muslim Cleric in Kerala Issues Fatwa against ISIS,” 2014), a program such as RRG and Sakinah Campaign can be very helpful in India. Although, a glaring distinction would be the sheer area and population difference. This can be offset by the improved internet penetration and a large number of respected Islamic clerics in India. A functional application and website catering to young Muslims from various sects would go a long way in helping them understand their religion. As demonstrated earlier by Canter & Sarangi, the rhetoric is taken from misinterpretations. Therefore, it becomes vital in providing young individuals with the right interpretations.

               There has to be a continuous counter-narrative campaign to provide youngsters with alternative narratives online. This must be even more rigorous as days of significance such as 9/11, 26/11, the anniversary of Gujarat riots or Islamic festivals as there is a visible spike in extremist digital content. There has to be clear refutations of popular radical content such as Anwar Al-Awlaki’s video lectures by Indian Muslim clerics.

                The most recent backlash to the idea of deradicalization was due to the comments of General Rawat on the existence of deradicalization camps in Kashmir. This caused an uproar in the Muslim community all across India. This calls for better transparency from the Government. In a series of tweets, Asaduddin Owaisi, the President of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen said, “Who’ll deradicalise lynchers & their political masters? What about those opposing citizenship for Assam’s Bengali Muslims? Maybe deradicalise “Badla” Yogi & “Pakistan jao” Meerut SP? Maybe deradicalize those imposing hardship on us through NPR-NRC?”. These comments are valid and right-wing extremism has to be dealt with equal seriousness as this remains one of the most cited reasons (or push-factors) by apprehended Jihadist terrorists. The process of radicalization has to be understood in the context of both extremist beliefs i.e, Hindu right-wing extremists and Jihadists. Both belief systems are a threat to the nation and have to be studied with equal vigor and need to be countered with various programs. A broader campaign against radicalization and fake news in religious context is very much required.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Bhalla, A. (2017, November 19). Govt starts working on deradicalisation. DNA India. https://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-govt-starts-working-on-deradicalisation-2560954

Boucek, C. (2008). The Sakinah Campaign and Internet Counter-Radicalization in Saudi Arabia. Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, 1(9). https://ctc.usma.edu/the-sakinah-campaign-and-internet-counter-radicalization-in-saudi-arabia/

Canter, D., Sarangi, S., Youngs, D., & Khan, W. (2009). PATHWAYS TO THE RADICALISATION OF ISLAMIC TERRORISTS IN INDIA – Phase 1. https://www.davidcanter.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Pathways-to-Radicalisation.pdf

Conrad, H. (2015, April 21). By 2050, India to have world’s largest populations of Hindus and Muslims. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/04/21/by-2050-india-to-have-worlds-largest-populations-of-hindus-and-muslims/

GIFCT. (2017). GIFCT About. http://www.gifct.org

GS, B., & Kaushik, A. (2018). Thwarting Radicalisation in India: Lacunae in Policy Initiative. 5(166), 32.

Kanth, A. (2018, May 10). Deradicalisation of youths: Kerala Police pushing values of Constitution through mosques. The New Indian Express. https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/2018/may/10/deradicalisation-of-youths-kerala-police-pushing-values-of-constitution-through-mosques-1812986.html

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START UMD. (2019). Profiles of Individual Radicalization in the United States (PIRUS). START. https://www.start.umd.edu/data-tools/profiles-individual-radicalization-united-states-pirusActivites of Indian Mujahideen, RC-06/2012/NIA-DL (Special Judge, NIA, Patiala House, New Delhi September 10, 2012).

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Notes

[i] Section 69A of the IT Act, empowers the Central Government to order that access to certain websites and computer resources) be blocked in the interest of the defense of the country, its sovereignty and integrity, the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, public order or for preventing incitement to the commission of an offence. The details of the procedural safeguards that had to be followed while blocking access were set out in in more detail in the Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking for Access of Information by Public) Rules, 2009 (Blocking Rules).

[ii] Https://talk.gnews.bz/channel/gimf-agh. This particular website is hosted through rocket.im based chatroom technology.

[iii] This has been observed by the author at an individual level while tracking content on Telegram and has been recently observed by several OSINT experts such as @kashmirosint (Twitter). https://twitter.com/kashmirosint/status/1204415028046123014

See Appendix for examples.

[iv] Observed by the author during research.

Pic Courtesy-Levi Clancy at unsplash.com

(The views expressed are personal)