On Tuesday March 17th, 2015, the India Supreme Court declared Section 66A of the Information Technology Act unconstitutional. This section of the ITA allows a person to be convicted and serve a maximum of three years in jail with a fine for sending offensive messages through any computer resource or communication device. The law was passed in 2008 after the three day terrorist attacks on Mumbai, it allowed authorities to monitor electronic communications. According to the Wall Street Journal, Justice Rohinton Norman said...
"The law’s provisions were too vague and didn’t provide “clearly defined lines” for law-enforcement officials. “What is offensive to one person may not be offensive to another."
Critics in the past have been worried that the section of the law that was removed was easy for misuse at the hands of police officials often regarding to political parties. According to a report by Facebook, the company blocked over 5,832 pieces of content in 2014 requested by the Indian law enforcement and government. So the court also ruled that Internet companies such as Facebook and Google, could only remove content if ordered to do so by a court, limiting the government to have such large control. Former Union mister P Chidambaram welcomed the judgment saying in a article from the Indian Express ...
“The section was poorly drafted and was vulnerable. It was capable of being misused and, in fact, it was misused,” he said. “There could be a case of misuse of the freedom of speech. In such cases, the ordinary laws should apply and the offender should be dealt with under those laws. If some provisions of the law have to be strengthened, that could be considered. But Section 66A was not the answer.”
For the past few years controversy has been going with the law over several arrests. In 2012 Shaheen Dhada posted on Facebook to criticize the shutdown of Mumbai for the funeral of politician Bal Thackeray. Her friend Rinu Shrinivasan was also arrested for simply liking the post. Also political cartoonist Assem Trivedi was charged for his work mocking Parliament. Two Air India employees also spent 12 days in jail for jokes about the Prime Minster.
A petition to amend the law was filed in 2012 by Shreya Signal, an aspiring law student. Many non government organizations joined her. After the ruling she told reporters ...
“This is a big victory for free speech today, People shouldn’t desist from posting something because of the fear of going to jail.”
Hopefully people in India will feel a little more at peace with this new amendment. Instead of second guessing their posts they can have a sense of pride when it comes to speaking their mind. The Internet & Mobile Association of India called the verdict a “momentous victory for the 302 million strong Internet users in India”.