Anti Cyber Bullying Laws in India

Introduction:

Before we proceed with our topic, it would be better to understand the actual meaning of this term hereinafter ‘Cyber Bullying” To be precise, there is no actual legally defined definition of Cyber Bullying. According to the Oxford dictionary, cyberbullying means “the use of electronic communication to bully a person, typically by sending messages of an intimidating or threatening nature”

Therefore, Cyber Bullying means harassment or oppression of a person (victim) through electronic means, including computer resources, laptop etc.) By an individual or a group of individuals on certain online platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook etc.

The evil concept of Cyber Bullying owes its origin to our technologically advanced world. According to a study done by the Government of India, there has been a sudden surge in the number of internet users, it is estimated that India will have 580M internet users by 2020.

It is great to see that our country has been developing tremendously but has anyone of us noticed the ill effects of this technological revolution? It is submitted that usage of internet is adversely affecting the mental as well as the physical condition of teenagers and adults.

How Threatening the Use Could be the Issue of Cyber Bullying?

It has been observed by the cyber experts that most of the perpetrators who commit the offence of Cyber Bullying are mainly teenagers who are either ignorant of the law or out of personal frustration, anger, stress or any personal reason harasses the victim. In the garb of anonymous identity, they presume themselves a right to harass, threaten or annoy anyone on the online platform

The offence of Cyber Bullying is very wide and ambiguous. If we were to define what act amounts to Cyber Bullying, it would take a number of articles to clearly mention every act, For the sake of simplicity, there are certain acts which are considered as Cyber Bullying which are as follows;-

1. Posting defamatory, derogatory or sexual remarks on someone’s photograph on a social platform
2. Creating a fake user account in someone else name or impersonating the said person
3. Sending explicit texts, demanding sexual favours or blackmailing someone with an intent to extract out money
4. Spreading false rumours about a particular person and provoking him to commit any harm to him or others
5. Hacking of an account and intentionally leaking their personal photos
6. Abusing someone on the basis of religion, caste, race, colour, and place of birth

The aforesaid acts are the examples of how Cyber Bully is like; – there are various adverse effects of Cyber Bullying, for instance, a victim may suffer mental trauma, depression, loss of appetite, and failure to do well in academics. The intention of the oppressor or bully is just to harass the victim to such extent to make his/her life miserable

Facts on Cyber Bullying in India

Due to the severability of the offence of Cyber Bullying, it is submitted that people who have been bullied or victimized online didn’t report their criminal complaint to the cyber cell.  Ignorance of law and non-availability of free legal aid are the primary reasons for not registering a criminal complaint

A study conducted by a non- governmental organization Children Rights and You (Hereinafter referred to as CRY) claims that 1 in 10 Indian Adolescents have faced Cyber Bullying at least once in their lifetime.  Furthermore, cases of bullying have rosed by 36% from 542 in 2017 to 740 in 2018. Nevertheless, the conviction rate is dropped, mainly because of underreporting.

According to the National Crime Record Crime Bureau, cases, there has been a significant rise in the percentage of cybercrimes in India. It is a high time that Cyber Bullying should be considered as a heinous offence. Many oppressors or bullies sometimes get away from the punishment, because of the failure of the law to strike at the root of Cyber Bullying.  It must be noted that if the victims continue to get harassed, then there is a clear violation of Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. Failure to report the crime too would itself become abetment of crime by the victim too

Judicial Notice of Cyber Bullying in India

Though the Indian Parliament has not enacted any specific law or act regarding Cyber Bullying but it has made sure that Indian Penal Code, 1860 and Information Technology Act, 2000 is in conformity with the dynamic needs of the society,

The Honorable Supreme Court ensures that the rights of the citizens are not to be infringed.  The Supreme Court acting as the guardian of Indian Constitution, in a landmark case of Vishaka vs. State of Rajasthan[1], for the first time rose up the issue of Cyber Bullying while framing guidelines for the prevention of sexual harassment of women at workplace, time to time the Supreme Court has stressed on the legislature to frame strict laws for the offence of Cyber Bullying

Consequently, there have been amendments in the Indian Penal Code. 1860, as well as Information technology act.  Similarly, section 67 of the IT Act deals with Cyber Bullying in a constructive manner, it prescribes punishment for publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form. After the amendment of 2013 in the wake of Mukesh vs. N.C.T of Delh[2] (Popularly known as Nirbhaya case) certain sections and provisions were added to the Indian Penal Code, which are as follows;-

• Section 354-C– Punishes the perpetrator for disseminating the image of women engaged in a private sect. This section protects the privacy of a woman by sentencing the regular offender too

• Section 354-D– Punishes a person for stalking a woman even clear disinterest shown by that woman. This section is punitive in nature too as it prescribes imprisonment for 3 years

• Section 507– Punishes the offender for criminal intimidating a person on an online platform; this section is usually invoked when the offender was sending threatening messages through the mail

• Section 509- Punishes the offender for insulting the modesty of a woman through any gesture, sound or act. The maximum punishment provided under this section is 6 months

• Section 292-A- Punishes the offender for the printing of indecent or scurrilous causes to be published, this section prescribes imprisonment for 3 years

Although, the Indian Penal Code, 1860, had been enacted when there was no technological advancement. It would be very pertinent to note that the code is very flexible to meet the ongoing changes in the law. Section 66E, of the Information Technology Act, 2000, this section prescribes punishment for violation of privacy

Case Laws

1. Ritu Kohli’s Case[3]

The facts of the case are revolting. The accused, Manish, would stalk the complainant, Miss Ritu, on a dating website, where he would talk with others by using her name and photo. Consequently, she started receiving phone calls from random calls asking for sexual favours. The complainant filed a criminal complaint under 509, IPC, for outraging her modesty. The accused contended that section 509 is silent on electronic media. Henceforth, he was acquitted. This case made the legislature realise that they need stringent laws to tackle new offences

In a fairly recent case, the Jharkhand Session Court refused to grant the bail to two school students, for transmitting pornographic and sending indecent messages to their classmates in a whatsapp group.

2. The Bois Locker Room Case[4]

The aforesaid case has been in a limelight for a while, due to its horrific facts. The Delhi Commission took sou moto cognizance of this case when a girl on twitter shared several screenshots of a group titled “Bois Locker Room” where participants of that group were observed discussing about raping minor girls and posting scurrilous, objectionable, and obscene photos of girls without their consent. This incident shocked the entire nation, on an investigation conducted by the Delhi Police; it was revealed that most of the participants of the group were teenagers, studying in prestigious schools of South Delhi. Furthermore, the Police during the investigation discovered that certain screenshots of chats were not from that group.

The cyber cell later discovered that a minor girl was using a false identity of a boy “Siddarth” to test the ‘values and character of the boy’ since being a minor, no action was taken against her. It is submitted that our present laws are inadequate and obsolete to strike down the problem of Cyber Bullying.

Manav Singh, a young teenager had also committed suicide on being harassed by a girl on Instagram. This could be inferred from the fact that Cyber Bullying is a serious issue which needs to be addressed by our parliament otherwise grave consequences would result in arbitrariness

A Perspective Review of Indian Laws

Indian still does not has a strong and sound legal system to deal with offences related to Cyber Bullying but nowhere some provisions of Information & Technology Act, 2000 can be invoked against the oppressor. Some of the provisions are:

• Sec.66C– This section prohibits identity theft.  If any person uses the passwords or signatures, with an intent to defraud anyone, shall be punished with imprisonment of 3 years and fine of 1 lakh rupees

• Sec.66E-  Whoever uses the computer device or electronic to cheat any person by personation shall be punished with imprisonment which may be extended up to 3 years or with fine up to 2 lakhs

• Sec 72– It is a general provision which punishes a person for disclosing official records and information, without the consent of the concerned person, shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend to 2 years or with fine up to 2 lakhs

• Section 154- of C.r.p.c can be invoked too if the police is refusing to register the FIR

These sections are loosely drafted, so in most of cases the accused gets away with the punishment

It is submitted that Cyber Bullying should be made criminal as well as civil liability.  An aggrieved may then sue the bully/oppressor for exemplary damages caused by his act, The parliament should make certain changes in Code Of Civil Procedure, 1908, and Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, framing the procedure for taking action against the Cyber Bullying, IT act, 2000 is not an exhaustive act.

Measures to Prevent Cyber Bullying

Cyberbullying can only be prevented, if the oppressed /bullied victim, without any fear or intimidation would lodge a complaint against the oppressor in the cyber cell or its concerned police station, this will ensure that oppressors would think twice before committing this offence. The following measures could be taken by a victim of Cyber Bullying;-

1. Be rational of what you’re posting on social media- One of the primary reason why Cyber Bullying is rising on such a high scale because sometimes people don’t realise that by their comment or post, they have offended someone’s feelings. It’s not wrong to voice opinions but no one has a right to offend someone
2. It is observed that victims of Cyber Bullying are young teenagers, who are unaware of their rights. This is the reason most of the cases goes unreported. The offence of Cyber Bullying involves mental as well as physical pain. Parents should notice the change in the behaviour and attitude of their child, if it is a serious case, then they must seek the help of a counsellor to get to the root of their children problem
3. Seek out legal help or aid- This is one of the most effective measures against Cyber Bullying. There has been a major development in legal aid camps organised by law schools, spreading awareness about Cyber Bullying and its legal measures. By taking a part in these camps, one may get aware of their rights
4. Using Parental Control- Parents or guardians can have constructive control over social media of their children. This will ensure that parents have knowledge with whom is their children chatting on social media. Though, it is not the best alternative but could be a major success in the case of minors
5. The Block Button- The option to block or ignore a user is provided to every user on every social media platform, if the person is persistently bullying the person, he/she could simply block it. Furthermore, many social media applications like Instagram, Snapchat etc. have user protection policies. The aggrieved person can also report the oppressor/troll page to them
6. Non- disclosure of personal information- It is a bitter truth that the Internet has become a necessary evil.  It has been advised by many Cyber experts not to share any kind of personal information with anonymous users on the internet. The dark web, which most people are unaware about, has been used to sell users personal information. So it is strongly submitted that one should be careful with sharing any personal information  with unknown users
7. Surf anonymously- There are many browsers like Duckduckgo, Tor Browser which allows the user to use the internet privately and anonymously. This reduces the chances of getting hacked or malicious viruses. VPN (Virtual Portable Net) can be used too.
8. Store the digital evidence in a safe place- To convict the accused of Cyber Bullying; one must have strong and unimpeachable digital evidence to prove the accused guilty. Tape Record, Photographs, Pen Drives have been declared as primary evidence. A certificate of electronic evidence is required under Section 65B of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872
9. Ignore the trolls- Trolls on the internet just want attention. So, it is advised not to pay any heed to their comments. The simplest resort is to ignore them and move on because once you start giving attention to them, they will be encouraged  to commit Bullying

The aforementioned remedies are not exhaustive in nature, so the victim can explore other options to redress their grievance

Conclusion

Our Parliament and lawmakers must not overlook the fact that Cyber Bullying is a serious concern in our society. Therefore, they must take necessary steps to prevent and abate the commission of not only offences related to Cyber Bullying but also every Cyber Offence in general. This will ensure that the spirit of the constitution will prevail in the nation, Citizen Suit provision could be encouraged too.

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References:

• www.legalserviceindia.com
• www.legalbites,com

[1] Vishaka Vs State of Rajasthan, (1989), S.C.C 1997 (India)

[2] Mukesh Vs State (NCT of Delhi) S.C.C 673 ,2017(India)

[3] Manish Kathuria Vs Ritu Kohli, C.C No.14616/2014

[4] The Indian EXPRESS, 11^th May, 2020 , ( New Delhi Edition)