Several Ways in which Social Media posts can be harmful!

Dance like no one is watching but text, post and email like it will be read in court someday - Sincerely Your Lawyer.

I started this blog post with a quote with the sole purpose to inform you, to be a selective sharer on social media platforms, always stay on the safe side and never share anything on the social media platforms that you would not share or speak otherwise freely in public. 

We can't imagine our lives without social media because it has become an integral part of our lives and has solved many problems for us. Everything has certain negatives and positives to it, the same way social media comes with its own set of positive and negative things.

As the world wrestles the pandemic of Coronavirus the authorities not only in India but around the world are forced to combat the problem of false news and rumors, as they spread like wildfire on social media. Although the authorities in India are doing a commendable job in not only combatting the Coronavirus but also the rumors and false news constantly being spread on various social media platforms.

Coronavirus, as we all know, it has spread in about 209 countries around the globe and due to it, people are being forced to stay at their dwelling places, which results in an increased amount of internet usage and which come what may increase the chance of an elevated information disorder.

In India, it is proposed to make the end to end encryption illegal, the officials have sought to exert more control over the internet in view of the lynchings committed after false rumors spread on Whatsapp as well as the tension created by the false news being spread about certain people being COVID +ve. This will be a sheer violation of the right to a person's privacy if this provision comes into force.

An example of rumors being spread is the recent mob lynching case that took place in Palghar in Mumbai due to a rumor spread on Whatsapp that the Saints might be kidnappers. The poor souls were lynched by a mob in a confusion created by a RUMOR!

In India, Law enforcement agencies have powers under a certain set of provisions of different legislations to take appropriate legal actions against anyone who spreads rumors in general or about the virus and causes a state of panic among the people. Even though in India we don't have a certain set of legislation that particularly deals with spreading misinformation or rumors but we do have some provisions that are applicable to it, which are under The Indian Penal Code, The Information Technology Act, and The Disaster Management Act.

Some of the legal provisions under The Indian Penal Code are as under:

• Section 500 - Provides for the punishment for the offence of defamation. Whoever defames any person(s) is to be charged with under this section with simple imprisonment of up to two years, fine or both and is a bailable offence.

• Section 504 - If any of your posts is found to intentionally insult with an intention to provoke breach of peace then you can be charged with jail time for up to two years, fine or both and is a bailable offence.

• Section 505(1) - Whoever makes, publishes or circulates any statement rumor or report can be punished for up to three years of jail time, fine or both and is a non-bailable offence.

Provisions under The Information Technology Act:

• Section 66 - Whoever commits any computer-related offence provided under Section 43 of this act shall be punished with imprisonment for up to three years, fine of up to Rs 5 lakhs! Or both.

• Section 66A - provides punishment for up to three years, fine or both for sending offensive messages through computer resources or any other communication device. A provision of this section was amended by a landmark judgment in the case of Shreya Singhal Vs. Union of India; delivered by the honorable Supreme Court of India in the year 2015 on the issue of online speech. Earlier the provision of this section provided powers to the Police personnel to arrest anyone for posting allegedly offensive content anywhere on the internet but with this judgment, their lordships struck down a provision relating to restrictions on online speech as unconstitutional on grounds that it violated the Right to Freedom of Speech under Article 19(1)(a).

Provisions of Section 54 of the Disaster Management Act:

Whoever makes or circulates a false alarm or warning as to the disaster or its severity or magnitude, leading to panic shall be punishable for imprisonment for up to a year, fine or both.

Conclusion:

Before creating, posting, sharing and forwarding any message, a person needs to be aware of the outcome of the same if not true and creates panic. You should totally refrain from forwarding any messages without verifying the credibility of the said message with valid and credible sources and not from messages forwarded on Whatsapp and posts on Facebook. The law enforcement agencies are monitoring such posts on all social media platforms and can land you in uncalled for litigation or jail. With the help of this blog post, I try and make my avid readers aware of how a social media post, forwarded message or false message/rumor can create problems for you and can also land you in jail.

Feel free to reach out to me for any confusion.

Stay aware and stay safe.