Law Commission asked to make draft
Moving a step ahead towards framing a distinct law for online “hate speech,” the Home Ministry has written to the Law Commission to prepare a draft law. The provisions will deal with offensive messages sent through social media and online messaging applications.
The decision came after a committee headed by former Lok Sabha Secretary General T.K. Viswanathan submitted a report recommending stricter laws to curb online hate speech. The panel was formed after Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, was scrapped by the Supreme Court in 2015.
The scrapped provision provided punishment for sending offensive messages through communication services.
Imperfect data
A senior National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) official said there is no comprehensive data available on cases in which rumours and hate speech insinuations were made through social media and WhatsApp.
“Such crimes are being registered under various other sections like sedition or other sections of the Information Technology Act. If the law is amended, it will provide us with the extent of the problem,” said the official. The 267th report of the Law Commission had recommended inserting additional provisions in Sections 153 505 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
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