Overview
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked top bureaucrats to explore a formal social‑media code for officers after officials raised concerns about personal reels, videos and opinion posts that appear to promote official work, senior sources told reporters this week.
- Cabinet Secretary T V Somanathan circulated action points to secretaries and departments have held initial inter‑departmental meetings to work out how a single, centrally issued code would apply to officers at all ranks.
- No timetable or final text has been published yet and government sources say specific rules, exemptions and disciplinary measures remain undecided.
- The push for a code runs alongside an order to speed up MeitY’s 'Ek Bharat' single‑sign‑on portal to centralize citizen access to services and follows recent IT Rules changes that cut online takedown and compliance windows.
- If implemented, the code could narrow how officials present themselves online and change everyday work for civil servants by clarifying what is allowed, who enforces it, and how breaches are disciplined.