WhatsApp Groups Under Watch: Telangana Police Begin Monitoring Admins and Posts
The government is said to be keen on knowing what the public thinks about its performance and identifying who is posting against it, when and where. In response, lower-level police personnel such as home guards and constables have reportedly been mobilized to gather such information.
Hyderabad: Is the government now instructing the police to monitor WhatsApp groups to understand public opinion and keep an eye on dissent? According to reliable sources, Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and top government officials have reportedly directed increased surveillance of social media—especially WhatsApp groups—in Telangana.
The government is said to be keen on knowing what the public thinks about its performance and identifying who is posting against it, when and where. In response, lower-level police personnel such as home guards and constables have reportedly been mobilized to gather such information.
Reports suggest that police officers have been instructed to join WhatsApp groups across villages, mandals, and districts. Constables and officials from the Intelligence and Task Force departments are allegedly being added to these groups to monitor activities and provide real-time updates to senior officials.
In some areas, police are even asking villagers how many WhatsApp groups exist in their village, what topics they cover—such as caste, religion, politics, youth, community events, family-based groups—and who their admins are. In many cases, police are requesting to be added to these groups as members.
Telangana has 12,848 villages, and with surrounding hamlets included, the number exceeds 13,000. On average, each village is estimated to have at least 20 active WhatsApp groups, including village-level, caste-based, political, religious, family, and entertainment-related groups.
When urban areas, mandals, district headquarters, job-seeker groups, student groups, journalist networks, news media forums, and even “drunk and drive” awareness groups are included, the total number of WhatsApp groups in the state is estimated to surpass 5.5 lakh (550,000).
Sources claim the government is aiming to gather data from at least 3 lakh (300,000) of these groups. There are indications that a dedicated network may be established for this purpose to ensure systematic information flow to the head office.
