Following the Ranveer Allahbadia ‘obscene’ speech row, the IT Ministry could respond to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology by next week on the current legal framework to regulate online speech on social media platforms and the need to make further changes to them to “to bring such platforms under legal scrutiny so as to safeguard the societal values and protect the dignity of women and children,” The Indian Express has learnt. In an internal communication prepared by the ministry to formulate a response for the Committee, it has referenced the now revoked Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, which was deemed “unconstitutional” by the Supreme Court in 2015, this paper has learnt. This comes in reference to the row that erupted over allegedly ‘obscene’ remarks made by online influencer Ranveer Allahbadia in the popular comedy show ‘India’s Got Latent’ hosted by Samay Raina. Multiple FIRs were filed against Allahbadia and others across states over a remark that he made on parents getting intimate. He then filed a case in the Supreme Court, requesting for clubbing all the FIRs against him. While the top court has granted him interim relief from arrest, it also came down heavily on him over his speech, noting that “no one has the license to speak whatever they want against the norms of society in the name of freedom of speech”. Last week, the Standing Committee on IT also held a meeting on the issue, where they called for stringent measures to curb such speech on social media platforms. The IT Ministry is preparing a brief note to send to the Committee by February 25. The internal communication prepared by the ministry noted the remarks made by the Supreme Court against Allahbadia, and ‘drew attention’ to Section 66A of the IT Act. “.attention of the Ministry is drawn to the Section 66A of IT (Amendment) Act, 2008 which was intended to provide protection against offensive or insulting message, speech or information made online by granting powers to the Government to make arrests in such cases of misuse of freedom of speech. The Section was however declared ‘Unconstitutional’ by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of Shreya Singhal Vs Union of India in 2015 citing the reasons that the said Section did not fall within the reasonable exceptions of freedom of speech and expression,” the note is learnt to have said. The ministry will inform the Committee of the efficacy of existing laws to deal with such cases and need to amend the existing laws/IT Act, 2000 “in order to bring such platforms under legal scrutiny so as to safeguard the societal values and protect the dignity of women and children,” while adhering to the creative expression and freedom of speech guaranteed under Article 19 (1)(a) of the Constitution. Following the backlash against speech made by Allahbadia, which has also drawn sharp criticism from the Supreme Court, many digital rights activists remain concerned over the potential of a heavy handed regulatory response from the government, which could further curtail the freedom of expression. The IT Ministry did not respond to an immediate request for comment.
