Pt.17 | Modi Govt Used Illegal AI Surveillance Tools To Track Students At Jantar Mantar? | Akash B
The short version: The Deshbhakt's Akash B investigates claims that India's government deployed AI surveillance tools to monitor student protesters at Jantar Mantar, a warning sign for ALPR-style overreach everywhere.
Our Take
Credit to Akash B and The Deshbhakt for digging into allegations that facial recognition and AI tracking tools were turned on student protesters at Jantar Mantar. We can't verify the specifics of India's program from here, but the pattern is depressingly familiar: governments quietly stand up surveillance infrastructure, then point it at dissent instead of crime.
This is exactly why we watchdog ALPR networks here in the U.S. The same logic applies — a tool pitched as 'public safety' tech can just as easily become a protest-tracking system once it's plugged into a database and left unsupervised. Flock Safety cameras weren't built with legislative debate about protest surveillance; they got installed one city council vote at a time, and now they quietly log everyone's movements, including people exercising First Amendment rights.
Whether it's AI cameras at a rally in Delhi or an ALPR reading plates outside a courthouse in Ohio, the question is the same: who has access, what are they searching for, and who's watching the watchers? Check our camera map to see what's been deployed near you, and if you want to push back locally, our take-action page has concrete steps.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of The Deshbhakt, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.