Deliberating Defamation through Social Media

Profile of the Author: Jahanvi Bhandari is a 3rd-year law student pursuing B.B.A LLB from MMU, Mullana. The fields of social issues, environmental issues and constitutional topics hold her keen interest.

Introduction

In this growing era of social media, a bulk of content and pictures is shared online every day, which also makes it prone to every kind of reactions and Defamation [1]. Defamation is the oral or written false statement that is either said or published about another person that harms their reputation and constitutes a crime. When a person is defamed in the cyberspace, it is called Cyber Defamation or online defamation. [2] There are laws made against Cyber Defamation and Cyberbullying. Every online community has its own norms against it.

Defamation is of two kinds- (i) Written Defamation is Libel (ii) Spoken Defamation is Slander

There are two broad categories of cases falling under Cyber Defamation:

• The first category involves the cases in which the liability is of the primary publishers of the defamatory material, e.g. website content providers, e-mail authors etc;
• The second category involves cases involving the liability of Internet Service Providers or Board Operators.

The recent case of defamation on social media that got viral was of a girl accusing a boy of raping her two years ago. Soon, the post went viral, and people started supporting the girl and backlashed the teenager boy, who later committed suicide because of the molestation charge.

Section 469 of the IPC (forgery for the purpose of harming reputation) has been amended by the Information Technology Act, 2000 [3] to include ‘electronic record forged’ and now reads:–

Whoever commits forgery, intending that the document or electronic record forged shall harm the reputation of any party, or knowing that is it likely to be used for that purpose, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, and shall also be liable to fine. [4]

Section 503 of IPC defines the offence of criminal intimidation by use of e-mails and other electronic means of communication for threatening or intimidating any the person or his property or reputation.

Section 66A [5] of the Information Technology Act, 2000 does not specifically deal with the offence of cyber defamation, but it makes punishable the act of sending grossly offensive material for causing insult, injury or criminal intimidation.

Cyber Defamation can be made the basis of seeking Damages.

The Constitution grants Freedom of Speech and Expression as one of the Fundamental Rights [6] under Article 19. It also imposes certain reasonable restrictions on the exercise of the right. A remark or a statement that could hamper the reputation of another person would be a liability under the offence of Defamation.

What should you do?

• If you ever face cyber defamation or cyberbullying, the primary thing is not to stay quiet about it and take steps regarding it.
• Go to any nearby Police Station and report, it will be registered.
• In case you’re not comfortable, go to the State Police website and report the matter.
• Immediately make a complaint to the relevant Service provider such as Google, Instagram, Twitter, etc.
• Service providers are the intermediary under cyber law, they are mandated to exercise due diligence while they discharge their obligations under this act and once you register the complain they are duty-bound to investigate and look into it.
• You also have the remedy of trying and not getting provoked by it and following the proper procedures.

In a recent case, Swami Ramdev & Anr. v. Facebook Inc. & Ors. [7], certain videos were uploaded, which contained the summary of a book, named ‘Godman to Tycoon: The Untold Story of Baba Ramdev’ and contained defamatory content. The division bench Of Delhi High Court ordered the defendant to take down, nationally as well as globally, all the defamatory content published against the plaintiff from their digital platform.

Initiatives by the Government of India against Cybercrimes

• The Government has launched the online cybercrime reporting portal, www.cybercrime.gov.in to enable complainants to report complaints pertaining to Child Pornography/Child Sexual Abuse Material, rape/gang rape imageries or sexually explicit content. [8]
• Indian Computer Emergency response Team (CERT-In)
• National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC)
• Guidelines for Organizations CISOs.
• Cyber Swachhta Kendra
• Appointment of Chief Information Security Officers
• Website Audit
• Crisis Management Plan
• Training and Mock drills
• Personal Data Protection Bill

Conclusion

Social media is an excellent platform for the growth and awareness of all the masses in general, but its use for wrongful purposes such as Defamation, to bring the other person down or harm the other person’s reputation is a crime. People, who commit such crimes, are normally of the mentality that they’ll stay anonymous behind the screen but that’s not the case anymore. People should try to uplift each other and help each other grow. The Government is also taking initiatives for the same to prevent any such atrocities.

Disclaimer: This article is an original submission of the Author. Niti Manthan does not hold any liability arising out of this article. Kindly refer to our Terms of use or write to us in case of any concerns.

FAQs

Q. What are some prevalent historic doctrines regarding defamation?

Ans. Although defamation is a creation of English law, similar doctrines existed several thousand years ago. In Roman law, abusive chants were capitally punishable. In early English and Germanic law, insults were punished by cutting out the tongue.

References

[1] Indian Penal Code, Sec 499

[2] www.legalservicesindia.com

[3] https://www.meity.gov.in/content/information-technology-act-2000

[4] www.mondaq.com

[5] https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/resources/section-66A-information-technology-act

[6] The Constitution of India, Art. 12-35

[7] https://indiankanoon.org/doc/63056689

[8] Press Information Bureau Government of India Ministry of Home Affairs, 17 July 2019 by PIB Delhi