Kerala's New Cyberlaw: 5 Yr Jail Term Or Rs 10K Fine To Counter Cyber-Bullying; What You Need To Know & Why Is It Being Criticised?

Kerala's new cyberlaw has landed into a controversy questioning the freedom of speech of media. Various organisations do not support such an amendment which gives the right to any third person to file a complaint.

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Kerala's New Cyber Law: With the rising cases of cyberbullying and online harassment, the Kerala government has cleared an ordinance amending the Police Act to allow any person or the authorities to file a case over social media posts that are intimidating, insulting, or defamatory, a move the administration said is meant to counter cyberbullying but critics have called it a threat to free speech and media freedom. Also Read| 'A Suitable Boy' Lands Into Controversy For Allegedly Invoking 'Love Jihad', #BoycottNetflix Trends On Twitter At present, defamation cases under Section 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code can only be filed by a person who has been targeted but according to the new law,  any third person or a police officer can file a complaint if they find a post derogatory. Kerala's new law to curb cyber harassment states that anyone producing, publishing, or disseminating such content on social media will face a prison term of up to five years or a fine of up to Rs10,000 or both. Key Points To Know:

• Anyone creating or sending offensive message or that which intends as such, through any means of communication, is liable to face imprisonment of 5 years or a fine of Rs 10,000 or both.
• Police gets the power to slap criminal charges on citizens by interpreting  any kind of communication as defamatory.
• “Injury to the mind” has been placed as a reason for slapping criminal charges.
• The fallacy with the law is that it leaves to police’s own subjective  interpretation what will fall under criminal charges

'New Cyber laws curtail freedom of speech'

Various organisations including CPI, a member of the ruling LDF government had raised questions on the new laws claiming that it curtails media's freedom of speech. According to a press note issued by CM's office, the existing laws were not effective in dealing with such online crime against women and children. It also pointed out that the High Court had directed the state chief secretary and the director general of police (DGP) in May to initiate effective steps to curtail hate speech and bullying in social media. “Apprehension in this regard is ill-founded. Our only aim is to curb cyber-attacks that are posing a major threat to private life,” said state law minister A K Balan. But the opposition wasn’t convinced. “We agree cyberbullying of women and children should be contained at any cost. But in the guise of fighting cyber crime, the government may target journalists who are exposing many misdeeds. Some of the wordings in the ordinance buttress our fear,” said opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala. Congress leader P Chidambaram tweeted this morning that he was "shocked" by the new law. "Shocked by the law made by the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government of Kerala making a so-called 'offensive' post on social media punishable by 5 years in prison," he said.

Shocked by the law made by the LDF government of Kerala making a so-called ‘offensive’ post on social media punishable by 5 years in prison

— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) November 22, 2020

Whether this new Kerala law will help control the hate speech and cyberbullying which has increased over the past few months is still a question. While this gives a right for anyone to lodge a complaint, there can be instances when this law can be misused according to the experts.