FREE SPEECH THREATENED!!

ESSAY FODDER—the hindu

SECTION 66 OF THE IT ACT 2000: DRACONIAN OR A NECESSARY EVIL?

 It makes punishable, inter alia , any communication that may be “grossly offensive” or “menacing in character”, or may cause “annoyance” and “inconvenience”. 

 The Section, which provides for punishment to persons sending offensive messages through any communication device, is arguably in patent violation of Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution.

Article 19(2) permits reasonable restrictions on free speech on grounds of “public order, decency or morality”, but by no stretch of interpretation could content that is of a “menacing character” or causes “annoyance” be said to fall within the scope of such reasonableness. Several petitions have been filed challenging the validity of this law, and the Supreme Court has reserved its verdict.

This provision was inserted as an amendment in 2008 by the United Progressive Alliance government, and the present National Democratic Alliance regime continues to favour it, saying the law was intended to “regulate the use of cyberspace” and not to curb free speech.

The Supreme Court last week agreed to hear a plea for a direction to seek an explanation from the Uttar Pradesh government for the arrest of a Class XII student for allegedly posting on Facebook “objectionable” comments about Samajwadi Party legislator and State Minister Azam Khan. This is of a piece with a series of incidents involving efforts to curb free speech on the Internet by invoking Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000. 

Petitions challenging the constitutionality of this law have argued that these terms are too “vague” and “ambiguous”, yielding unbounded scope for arbitrary use of power by officials who may interpret the terms as they deem fit.

More significantly, these show the intolerance and blatant abuse of power by politicians across party lines, and their efforts to manipulate the law to stifle dissent and criticism. 

One can only hope that the Supreme Court will act towards ultimately strengthening the foundations of free speech by striking down this untenable clause of the IT Act. This will be the surest way to halt the blatant misuse of power by the political class with respect to free speech on the Internet.