SECTION 66 A OF IT ACT

SECTION 66 A OF IT ACT

Subject: Governance

Context: Three journalists get notices for reports on ‘diverting’ oxygen. Administration says news reports shared by them on social media false propaganda, in violation of IT Act.

Concept:

Section 66A of Information Technology Act

• Section 66A dealt with information related crimes in which sending information, by means of a computer resource or a communication device, which is inter alia offensive, derogatory and menacing is made a punishable offence.
• In Shreya Singhal v. Union of India judgement, Justices Rohinton F. Nariman and J. Chelameswar had observed that the weakness of Section 66A lay in the fact that it had created an offence on the basis of undefined actions: such as causing “inconvenience, danger, obstruction and insult”, which do not fall among the exceptions granted under Article 19 of the Constitution, which guarantees the freedom of speech.
• The court also observed that the challenge was to identify where to draw the line. Traditionally, it has been drawn at incitement while terms like obstruction and insult remain subjective.
• In addition, the court had noted that Section 66A did not have procedural safeguards like other sections of the law with similar aims, such as :
• The need to obtain the concurrence of the Centre before action can be taken.
• Local authorities could proceed autonomously, literally on the whim of their political masters.
• The judgment had found that Section 66A was contrary to both Articles 19 (free speech) and 21 (right to life) of the Constitution. The entire provision was struck down by the court.
• After that government had appointed an expert committee (T.K. Viswanathan committee) which proposed a legislation to meet the challenge of hate speech online.