India celebrated the recent ruling of the Supreme Court to uphold the freedom of expression on the internet. But, a pertinent question arises here whether unrestrained freedom can be construed as a licence for a section of male to bully girls as well as women by posting obscene pictures along with vulgar comments in the social media network.
In fact, all welcomed the Supreme Court decision to scrap a contentious law that was seen as a major infringement of the freedom of speech online because it allowed the arrest of a person for posting offensive content. Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, has been declared unconstitutional. Describing the law as “vague in its entirety,” the judges said it encroaches upon “the public’s right to know”, and added further, “What may be offensive to a person may not be offensive to the other”. With SC ruling, India has reaffirmed its protections for freedom of speech on the internet. One may now freely speak online without fear of illegitimate and unconstitutional prosecution.
The bench also rejected the assurance given by the NDA Government during the hearing that certain procedures may be laid down to ensure that the law in question is not abused.
“Governments come and go but Section 66 A will remain forever,” the bench said, adding the present Government cannot give an undertaking about its successor that they will not abuse the same.
The judges, however, did not scrap two other provisions, Sections 69 A and 79 of the IT Act which empower the Government to block online content, but made a court order compulsory for any third party to ask an intermediary - such as Google or Facebook - to take it down.
After the SC order, all are in dilemma whether the unrestrained net freedom will give licence to a section of male community to indulge in character assassination of girls and women by posting obscene photographs along with vulgar comments.
It has been witnessed that currently kids to adults are involved into cyber crime as if it is their real world. They use the technology to express their positive emotions and feelings and also use it to harass, threaten, embarrass, or target another person especially to girls and women which is called Cyberbullying. Many are logged on to Facebook or Tumblr and chatting or texting throughout the day. Bullies and mean girls have been around forever, but technology now gives them a whole new platform for their actions.
There are various types of harassments such as (1) Harassment via e-mails (2) Cyber-stalking (3) Cyber pornography (4) Defamation (5) Morphing of photographs, (6) Email spoofing (7) Posting obscene photos with vulgar comments (8) Creating fake IDs and posting.
Cyber crime is a global phenomenon. It has been observed that on Facebook and Twitter where some girls and models and eminent personalities are posted with the whole screenshots where they are bullied by brats or fake account holders. One person’s joke could be another’s hurtful insult. Posting double meaning post, photo-shopping and posting others pictures publicly are like assassination of the character of the person and it is humiliating him or her.
India ranks third on global Cyberbullying list. Odisha is also not far behind. Cyberbullying is as bad as physical violence. It is a violation of not only fundamental rights, but even human rights. Cyberbullying is rampant in schools and colleges to victimise the person on Whatsup and Facebook through fake accounts. Study shows many kids are reluctant to report being bullied, even to their parents. It’s not possible to know how many are affected. But recent studies about cyberbullying rates have found that about one in four teens have been the victims of cyberbullying and about one in six admit to having cyberbullied someone.
In some studies, more than half of the teens surveyed said that they’ve experienced abuse through social and digital media. Cyberbulling can become a cause of depression among the girls in college and also work place. Indian women netizens are still not open to immediately report the cyber abuse or cyber crime.
Girls in Odisha and elsewhere are now reluctant to open an account in social media due to fear of cyberbulling. The problem would be solved only when the victimised women, girls and kids then and there report back or even warn the abusers about taking strong actions and can stop this criminal activity with the help of nearest cyber crime cell.
The debate on the internet freedom and cyber crime against girls and women has come to the fore now as a few years ago, several incidents sparked an outcry against section 66 A. While the Maharashtra Government arrested two girls in Palghar near Mumbai for criticising on Facebook a shutdown of Mumbai city during the funeral of former Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, a businessman in Puducherry was arrested for comments made on Twitter against Karti Chidambaram, son of former Finance Minister P Chidambaram.
Unrestrained freedom of expression raised several questions. First, will it be a license to anti-social elements to post obscene photographs and vulgar comment on Facebook , Twitter and other social media platformIJ Second, if someone is involved in such kind of activities, then what are the laws to take action against them IJ Third, will obscene and defamation laws are strong enough to take action against the guiltyIJ Fourth, is the cyber law enforcement agency is strong enough to take action against the criminalsIJ Five, will the victims get speedy justiceIJ Sixth, should the Government make the cyber law stringent or it should leave the net users to impose self-code of conductIJ
All should join hands to resolve the above mentioned issues. And, the net users should not forget to set a good example for themselves - self-model of good online code and habits to help family to understand the benefits and the dangers of life in the digital world.
(The writer is Mumbai-based who is an active social media campaigner on various social and environmental issues. Feedbacks and comments can be sent at janatavikasmanch@gmail.com)