Liking obscene social media posts not an offence, but sharing is: Allahabad HC

The Allahabad High Court recently held that liking an “obscene” post on social media does not constitute an offence. However, sharing or reposting such content will lead to penal consequences.
The court has clarified that sharing such a post falls under the category of “transmission” as per Section 67 of the Information Technology (IT) Act, making it punishable.
A bench of Justice Arun Kumar Singh Deshwal made the observations while dismissing the criminal proceedings against Mohd Imran Kazi from Agra. Kazi had been charged under Section 67 of the IT Act and other sections of the Indian Penal Code.
Kazi was facing trial for merely liking another person’s post related to unlawful assembly. The judge noted that there was no evidence connecting Kazi to any objectionable post, as no offensive post was found on his Facebook and WhatsApp accounts. Therefore, the court found no case against Kazi.
The judge explained that while the IT Act does criminalise the transmission of obscene material, in this particular case, “liking” a post does not amount to publishing or transmitting the post. Hence, merely liking a post does not fall under Section 67 of the IT Act. The court also emphasised that Section 67 of the IT Act pertains to obscene material and not provocative material.
The case against Mohd Imran Kazmi originated from his action of liking “provocative” messages on social media. This resulted in an assembly of approximately 600-700 individuals from the Muslim community for an unauthorised procession. The Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) in Agra had taken cognizance of the charge sheet and issued a non-bailable warrant against him on June 30, 2023.