‘IT Act does not protect freedom of speech’

‘It also does not protect citizens’ ‘digital rights’ and the government needs to protect these rights’.

 

New Delhi: Old, archaic cyber laws are preventing Internet freedom in India. These laws were enacted 20 years ago and continued by successive governments despite the fact that ground realities have changed a lot over the last two decades.

The Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000 is the primary law in India which deals with cyber crime and electronic commerce. The Act provides a legal framework for e-governance by giving recognition to electronic records and digital signatures.

It also defines cyber crimes and prescribes penalties for them. A major amendment was made in 2008, according to which penalty was imposed for sending “offensive messages”. It also introduced a Section which gave authorities power of interception or monitoring of any information through any computer resource. Interestingly, the amendment was passed without any debate.

“The Act is very lopsided vis-à-vis freedom of speech. The ground realities have changed drastically in these 20 years. Countries all over the world have changed their laws accordingly to meet the new requirements. But sadly, India is way behind other countries,” said Pawan Duggal, an expert of cyber laws. He said India does not even have cyber security laws.

According to Duggal, with Internet becoming a part of life for more and more people, the government needs to protect their “digital rights”. “The existing IT Act does not protect these rights. Moreover, there is the issue of right to access. Cyber security is a big concern for netizens as their data is not protected,” he said. Duggal, however, pointed out that the digital rights could be adversely affected in the days to come as governments would have the tendency to control and monitor cyber space.

As regards Internet freedom, Duggal said it derives from Article 19 of the Indian Constitution which guarantees to all its citizens the right to freedom of speech and expression, but it is not an absolute right. The IT Act does not protect this freedom of speech, he added.

However, Anupam Saraph, another IT expert, went even one step further, saying that there is no need to amend the IT Act, but to visit all existing Acts all over again.

“There is no need to enact a new law or amend the existing Act. But there is a need to club other Acts like Evidence Act, Criminal Procedure Act, Companies Act, Societies Act, IPC etc. A theft is a theft irrespective of whether it is done physically or online. Why a separate law for physical theft and cyber theft? The lawmakers should think whether a particular Act delivers the promise of the Preamble of the Constitution. Any law should be there to liberate a citizen and not constrain him,” Saraph told The Sunday Guardian.

Talking about the freedom to identify on social media, he said one should be free to express himself/herself through whichever name he chooses. “In my view, the IT Act was a huge mistake. It was not framed keeping the Preamble in mind, but in the interest of technology. It takes away the liberty of netizens,” he said, adding effort should be made to uphold the promise of the Preamble. Every Act which encroaches on one’s liberty must be removed, he said.