US National Cybersecurity Strategy

Introduction 

Digitalization in India has been a transformative force, India is also marked as the second country in the world in terms of active internet users. With this adoption of digitalization and technology, the country is becoming a digitally empowered society and knowledge-based economy. However, the number of cyber crimes in the country has also seen a massive spike recently with the sophisticated cyber attacks and manipulative techniques being used by cybercriminals to lure innocent individuals and businesses. 

As per recent reports, over 740,000 cybercrime cases were reported to the I4C, in the first four months of 2024, which raises serious concern on the growing nature of cyber crimes in the country. Recently Prime Minister Modi in his Mann Ki Baat address, cautioned the public about a particular rising cyber scam known as ‘digital arrest’ and highlighted the seriousness of the issue and urged people to be aware and alert about such scams to counter them. The government has been keen on making efforts to reduce and combat cyber crimes by introducing new measures and strengthening the regulatory landscape governing cyberspace in India.

Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre  

Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) was established by the Ministry of Home Affairs  (MHA) to provide a framework and eco-system for law enforcement agencies (LEAs) to deal with cybercrime in a coordinated and comprehensive manner. I4C handles the ‘National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal’ (https://cybercrime.gov.in) and the 1930 Cyber Crime Helpline. Recently at the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) Foundation Day celebration, Union Home Minister Amit Shah launched the Cyber Fraud Mitigation Centre (CFMC), Samanvay platform (Joint Cybercrime Investigation Facilitation System), 'Cyber Commandos' program and Online Suspect Registry as efforts to combat the cyber crimes, establish cyber resilence and awareness and strengthening capabilities of law enforcement agencies.

Regulatory landscape Governing Cyber Crimes 

Information Technology Act, 2000 (IT Act) and the rules made therein, the Intermediary Guidelines, Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 and Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita, 2023 are the major legislation in India governing Cyber Laws.  

CyberPeace Recommendations

There has been an alarming uptick in cybercrimes in the country highlighting the need for proactive approaches to counter these emerging threats. The government should prioritise its efforts by introducing robust policies and technical measures to reduce cybercrime in the country. The law enforcement agencies' capabilities must be strengthened with advanced technologies to deal with cyber crimes especially considering the growing sophisticated nature of cyber crime tactics used by cyber criminals. 

The netizens must be aware of the manipulative tactics used by cyber criminals to target them. Social media companies must also implement robust measures on their respective platforms to counter and prevent cyber crimes. Coordinated approaches by all relevant authorities, including law enforcement, cybersecurity agencies, and regulatory bodies, along with increased awareness and proactive engagement by netizens, can significantly reduce cyber threats and online criminal activities. 

References

• https://www.statista.com/statistics/1499739/india-cyber-crime-cases-reported-to-i4c/#:~:text=Cyber%20crime%20cases%20registered%20by%20I4C%20India%202019%2D2024&text=Over%20740%2C000%20cases%20of%20cyber,related%20to%20online%20financial%20fraud
• https://www.deccanherald.com/india/parliament-panel-to-examine-probe-agencies-efforts-to-tackle-cyber-crime-illegal-immigration-3270314
• https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=2003158

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Introduction

The spread of misinformation online has become a significant concern, with far-reaching social, political, economic and personal implications. The degree of vulnerability to misinformation differs from person to person, dependent on psychological elements such as personality traits, familial background and digital literacy combined with contextual factors like information source, repetition, emotional content and topic. How to reduce misinformation susceptibility in real-world environments where misinformation is regularly consumed on social media remains an open question. Inoculation theory has been proposed as a way to reduce susceptibility to misinformation by informing people about how they might be misinformed. Psychological inoculation campaigns on social media are effective at improving misinformation resilience at scale.

Prebunking has gained prominence as a means to preemptively build resilience against anticipated exposure to misinformation. This approach, grounded in Inoculation Theory, allows people to analyse and avoid manipulation without prior knowledge of specific misleading content by helping them build generalised resilience. We may draw a parallel here with broad spectrum antibiotics that can be used to fight infections and protect the body against symptoms before one is able to identify the particular pathogen at play.

Inoculation Theory and Prebunking

Inoculation theory is a promising approach to combat misinformation in the digital age. It involves exposing individuals to weakened forms of misinformation before encountering the actual false information. This helps develop resistance and critical thinking skills to identify and counter deceptive content. 

Inoculation theory has been established as a robust framework for countering unwanted persuasion and can be applied within the modern context of online misinformation:

1. Preemptive Inoculation:  Preemptive inoculation entails exposing people to weaker kinds of misinformation before they encounter genuine erroneous information. Individuals can build resistance and critical thinking abilities by being exposed to typical misinformation methods and strategies.
2. Technique/logic based Inoculation: Individuals can educate themselves about typical manipulative strategies used in online misinformation, which could be emotionally manipulative language, conspiratorial reasoning, trolling and logical fallacies. Learning to recognise these tactics as indicators of misinformation is an important first step to being able to recognise and reject the same. Through logical reasoning, individuals can recognize such tactics for what they are: attempts to distort the facts or spread misleading information. Individuals who are equipped with the capacity to discern weak arguments and misleading methods may properly evaluate the reliability and validity of information they encounter on the Internet.
3. Educational Campaigns: Educational initiatives that increase awareness about misinformation, its consequences, and the tactics used to manipulate information can be useful inoculation tools. These programmes equip individuals with the knowledge and resources they need to distinguish between reputable and fraudulent sources, allowing them to navigate the online information landscape more successfully.
4. Interactive Games and Simulations: Online games and simulations, such as ‘Bad News,’ have been created as interactive aids to protect people from misinformation methods. These games immerse users in a virtual world where they may learn about the creation and spread of misinformation, increasing their awareness and critical thinking abilities.
5. Joint Efforts: Combining inoculation tactics with other anti-misinformation initiatives, such as accuracy primes, building resilience on social media platforms, and media literacy programmes, can improve the overall efficacy of our attempts to combat misinformation. Expert organisations and people can build a stronger defence against the spread of misleading information by using many actions at the same time.

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CyberPeace Policy Recommendations for Tech/Social Media Platforms

Implementation of the Inoculation Theory on social media platforms can be seen as an effective strategy point for building resilience among users and combating misinformation. Tech/social media platforms can develop interactive and engaging content in the form of educational prebunking videos, short animations, infographics, tip sheets, and misinformation simulations. These techniques can be deployed through online games, collaborations with influencers and trusted sources that help design and deploy targeted campaigns whilst also educating netizens about the usefulness of Inoculation Theory so that they can practice critical thinking. 

The approach will inspire self-monitoring amongst netizens so that people consume information mindfully. It is a powerful tool in the battle against misinformation because it not only seeks to prevent harm before it occurs, but also actively empowers the target audience. In other words, Inoculation Theory helps build people up, and takes them on a journey of transformation from ‘potential victim’ to ‘warrior’ in the battle against misinformation. Through awareness-building, this approach makes people more aware of their own vulnerabilities and attempts to exploit them so that they can be on the lookout while they read, watch, share and believe the content they receive online.

Widespread adoption of Inoculation Theory may well inspire systemic and technological change that goes beyond individual empowerment: these interventions on social media platforms can be utilized to advance digital tools and algorithms so that such interventions and their impact are amplified. Additionally, social media platforms can explore personalized inoculation strategies, and customized inoculation approaches for different audiences so as to be able to better serve more people. One such elegant solution for social media platforms can be to develop a dedicated prebunking strategy that identifies and targets specific themes and topics that could be potential vectors for misinformation and disinformation. This will come in handy, especially during sensitive and special times such as the ongoing elections where tools and strategies for ‘Election Prebunks’ could be transformational.

Conclusion

Applying Inoculation Theory in the modern context of misinformation can be an effective method of establishing resilience against misinformation, help in developing critical thinking and empower individuals to discern fact from fiction in the digital information landscape. The need of the hour is to prioritize extensive awareness campaigns that encourage critical thinking, educate people about manipulation tactics, and pre-emptively counter false narratives associated with information. Inoculation strategies can help people to build mental amour or mental defenses against malicious content and malintent that they may encounter in the future by learning about it in advance. As they say, forewarned is forearmed. 

References

• https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abo6254
• https://stratcomcoe.org/publications/download/Inoculation-theory-and-Misinformation-FINAL-digital-ISBN-ebbe8.pdf

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Introduction

The Australian Parliament has passed the world’s first legislation regarding a ban on social media for children under 16. This was done citing risks to the mental and physical well-being of children and the need to contain misogynistic influence on them. The debate surrounding the legislation is raging strong, as it is the first proposal of its kind and would set precedence for how other countries can assess their laws regarding children and social media platforms and their priorities. 

The Legislation

Currently trailing an age-verification system (such as biometrics or government identification), the legislation mandates a complete ban on underage children using social media, setting the age limit to 16 or above. Further, the law does not provide exemptions of any kind, be it for pre-existing accounts or parental consent. With federal elections approaching, the law seeks to address parental concerns regarding measures to protect their children from threats lurking on social media platforms. Every step in this regard is being observed with keen interest. 

The Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, emphasised that the onus of taking responsible steps toward preventing access falls on the social media platforms, absolving parents and their children of the same. Social media platforms like TikTok, X, and Meta Platforms’ Facebook and Instagram all come under the purview of this legislation.

CyberPeace Overview

The issue of a complete age-based ban raises a few concerns:

1. It is challenging to enforce digitally as children might find a way to circumnavigate such restrictions. An example would be the Cinderella Law, formally known as the Shutdown Law, which the Government of South Korea had implemented back in 2011 to reduce online gaming and promote healthy sleeping habits among children. The law mandated the prohibition of access to online gaming for children under the age of 16 between 12 A.M. to 6 A.M. However, a few drawbacks rendered it less effective over time. Children were able to use the login IDs of adults, switch to VPN, and even switch to offline gaming. In addition, parents also felt the government was infringing on the right to privacy and the restrictions were only for online PC games and did not extend to mobile phones. Consequently, the law lost relevance and was repealed in 2021.  
2. The concept of age verification inherently requires collecting more personal data and inadvertently opens up concerns regarding individual privacy. 
3. A ban is likely to reduce the pressure on tech and social media companies to develop and work on areas that would make their services a safe child-friendly environment. 

Conclusion

Social media platforms can opt for an approach that focuses on how to create a safe environment online for children as they continue to deliberate on restrictions. An example of an impactful-yet-balanced step towards the protection of children on social media while respecting privacy is the U.K.'s Age-Appropriate Design Code (UK AADC). It is the U.K.’s implementation of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), prepared by the ICO (Information Commissioner's Office), the U.K. data protection regulator. It follows a safety-by-design approach for children. As we move towards a future that is predominantly online, we must continue to strive and create a safe space for children and address issues in innovative ways.

References

1. https://indianexpress.com/article/technology/social/australia-proposes-ban-on-social-media-for-children-under-16-9657544/
2. https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/should-children-be-barred-from-social-media/article68661342.ece
3. https://forumias.com/blog/debates-on-whether-children-should-be-banned-from-social-media/
4. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/education/news/why-banning-kids-from-social-media-wont-solve-the-youth-mental-health-crisis/articleshow/113328111.cms
5. https://iapp.org/news/a/childrens-privacy-laws-and-freedom-of-expression-lessons-from-the-uk-age-appropriate-design-code
6. https://www.techinasia.com/s-koreas-cinderella-law-finally-growing-up-teens-may-soon-be-able-to-play-online-after-midnight-again
7. https://wp.towson.edu/iajournal/2021/12/13/video-gaming-addiction-a-case-study-of-china-and-south-korea/
8. https://www.dailysabah.com/world/asia-pacific/australia-passes-worlds-1st-total-social-media-ban-for-children

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