Our Charter

Founding Document, Version 1, 15 August 2026

Digital Citizens of India is a people’s collective. It is a coming together of Indian citizens who help each other find the way through the digital world: digital rights, digital literacy, online safety and a constructive voice in India’s digital public life.

It is a body of citizens, not a body of paperwork. It does not need registration, offices or bank accounts to do its work. Like many of India’s great people’s movements, it runs on trust, service, openness and discipline.

Our mission. Help every Indian citizen find the way through the digital world, safely, confidently and together.

What the collective is not. Not a political party and not attached to any. Not a company or society or any such formal body. Not a business or a service provider. Not a fundraising body. The collective never touches money. Not an anonymous forum.

Founding principles

• Real people, real names. Every Digital Citizen joins under their real name, as an Indian citizen. No false names, no anonymous joining. Accountability is our strength.
• The collective never touches money. No fees, no donations, no bank account. The collective never collects or holds money, and no one is ever authorised to do so in its name. People give time, skill and voice. Well wishers may support the work in kind, under open rules.
• Open to every citizen. Any adult Indian citizen may join. No filter of profession, education, language or region.
• Consent over command. Decisions are made by consensus in circles, not by orders from above. No one is voted into anything and no responsibility has a fixed length. Responsibilities are given by invitation and passed on with trust.
• Personal details, held with care. Details shared at joining are kept safely, used only for running the collective and never sold or shared.
• Above party politics. The collective speaks on digital issues, never for or against any party or candidate. Digital Citizens are free in their personal politics. The letterhead is not.

How the collective stands

Digital Citizens of India stands on its people, not on a certificate. Indian life is full of groups that work this way: neighbourhood groups, seva sangh, bhajan mandalis, self help circles, volunteer movements. They run on trust and they run well.

• Things are looked after, not owned. The website domain, the social media handles and the brand files are each looked after by a named Digital Citizen for the whole collective, with a named backup, recorded openly. Looking after something is a duty, not ownership and the duty passes on voluntarily.
• Every signature is personal. A letter on the collective’s letterhead is the word of the people who sign it. Whoever signs is answerable for it in their own name and nothing careless or unchecked should ever go out.
• No money, few worries. Because the collective never touches money, its own troubles of accounts, tax and audits do not arise. But words carry their own responsibility. What the collective publishes must be truthful, sourced and fair.

Support in kind

The collective itself never touches money and it also never receives anything, in cash or in kind. But the work needs a few things that cost money: a domain name, a server, sometimes prizes for a contest or a hall for a workshop. Well wishers, including Digital Citizens themselves, may support these directly, under open rules:

• Everything stays in the supporter’s name. The supporter pays the vendor directly, keeps the account or booking in their own name and simply extends its use to the collective. Contest prizes go straight from the supporter to the winner, kept modest: a prize is the winner’s own income.
• Recorded openly. Every support in kind is entered in the public support register on the Openness page.
• Consent before acceptance. The National Circle gives consent before any support in kind is accepted and may decline any offer that could compromise the collective.
• Thanks, not advertising. A supporter may be thanked by name. Support brings no tax benefit of any kind; it is a personal expense, given freely. No promotion, no influence.
• No strings. Support with conditions on content, positions or appointments is refused, whatever its size.

Care of personal details

Details shared at joining, including the ID proof used for verification, are kept safely and used only for running the collective. They are never sold and never shared outside the collective. Every Digital Citizen can ask to see, correct or remove their details at any time.

Code of conduct

• Real name, always, in every space of the collective.
• Respect: no abuse, harassment, hatred or discrimination. Speak as you would in a room full of your family.
• Truth: no knowingly false claims. Mistakes are corrected openly.
• Above party politics in the collective’s spaces and on its letterhead. Full political freedom outside them.
• No commerce: no selling, promotion or solicitation in the collective’s spaces. No one is ever authorised to collect money in the collective’s name.
• No impersonation of any responsibility of the collective and no misuse of the brand or logo.
• Privacy: what fellow citizens share in the communities stays there. No screenshots of discussions to outside platforms.

A standing public notice:
Digital Citizens of India never collects money.
No fees, no donations, no bank account.
No one is ever authorised to collect money in our name.
If someone asks you for money in our name, they do not speak for us.