What’s in the news?

• The Supreme Court has ordered States and their police forces to stop prosecuting free speech on social media under Section 66A of the Information Technology Act which was declared unconstitutional by the court in a judgment seven years ago.
• In March 2015, the Supreme Court had found the police powers of Section 66A too wide with scant respect for individual liberty and free expression on the Internet.
• The judgment had come on the basis of a petition filed by law student Shreya Singhal, who had highlighted cases of young people being arrested and charged under the ambiguous provision for their social media posts.
• Section 66A had prescribed three years’ imprisonment if a social media message caused “annoyance” or was found “grossly offensive”. The Supreme Court had concluded the provision to be vague and worded arbitrarily. However, there are reports of cases in which people were booked under Section 66A.

Reference:

1. https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/no-more-prosecutions-under-section-66a-says-supreme-court/article66002464.ece