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India's Supreme Court has asked the government in western Maharashtra state to explain last week's arrest of two women over a comment on Facebook.
Shaheen Dhada was arrested for her comment following the death of politician Bal Thackeray.
Her friend, Renu Srinivasan, who "liked" the comment, was also arrested. The two were later released on bail.
The arrests of led to an outrage in India with critics accusing the government of "abuse of authority".
On Thursday, India's telecoms ministry issued new guidelines which make it harder for the police to arrest people for comments on social networking and other internet sites.
Now, a senior officer must approve before a complaint can be registered under the controversial Section 66A of the Information Technology Act which can send a person to jail for three years for sending an email or electronic message which "causes annoyance or inconvenience".
'Vague'
A Delhi student, Shreya Singhal, has challenged the law in the Supreme Court.
She says "the phraseology of Section 66A is so wide and vague and incapable of being judged on objective standards that it is susceptible to wanton abuse".
On Friday, a Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice Altamas Kabir and Justice J Chelameswar heard her petition.
"The Maharashtra government is directed to explain the circumstances under which the two girls - Shaheen Dhada and Renu Srinivasan - were arrested for posting comments made by them on Facebook," Press Trust of India quoted the justices as saying.
The judges gave the state four weeks to give its response.
The Supreme Court also asked the government in West Bengal state and the southern city of Pondicherry to explain similar arrests made in recent past.
In April, the West Bengal government arrested Professor Ambikesh Mahapatra, a teacher who had emailed to friends a cartoon that was critical of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. He was later released on bail.
In October, Ravi Srinivasan, a 46-year-old businessman in Pondicherry, was arrested for a tweet criticising Karti Chidambaram, son of Indian Finance Minister P Chidambaram. He too was later released on bail.
All the arrests were made under Section 66A.
BBC News - India Facebook arrests: Supreme Court demands explanation
India to Revise Enforcement of Internet Law
NEW DELHI — The Indian government will soon bar lower-level police officials from arresting people for making offensive comments on social networking sites unless the case is first reviewed by a senior police official, a top government official said Thursday.
Kapil Sibal, the communications minister, said during a television interview on Thursday that the recent arrests of two young women for their mild criticism of powerful people “are certainly an abuse of the law.”
But rather than change the law, he advocated changing its enforcement.
“The law is evolutionary, the process is evolutionary,” he said. “Let us now wait for another four to six months; let us wait to see if the process is adequate.”
The change comes a week after Shaheen Dhada, 21, a medical student from the outskirts of Mumbai, was arrested after she posted a mild protest on her Facebook account about the fact that Mumbai, India’s most populous city, had been nearly completely shut down after the death of Bal K. Thackeray, a right-wing hard-liner.
After Renu Srinivasan, 20, Ms. Dhada’s friend, clicked “Like” on Ms. Dhada’s Facebook post, she was also arrested.
The arrests led to national outrage, a storm of coverage in Indian newspapers and television news channels, and tens of thousands of comments on Twitter and Facebook. The policemen who arrested the women were suspended, and the charges against the women were dropped Thursday, according to Indian news media reports.
A strike on Wednesday, called by a right-wing religious organization to protest the officers’ suspension, closed schools, stores and transportation networks for much of the day in Palghar, the Mumbai suburb where the women were arrested. The organization, Shiv Sena, which advocates Hindu supremacy, had filed the complaint about Ms. Dhada’s post that led to the arrests.
Meanwhile, the Indian Supreme Court agreed to consider on Friday whether the law that led to the arrests of the women was unconstitutional.
The justices said they were eager to become involved.
“We were wondering why no one has approached the Supreme Court and even thought of taking up the issue,” said Chief Justice Altamas Kabir, according to Indian news media reports.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/30/w...le-back-enforcement-of-facebook-comments.html
Shaheen Dhada was arrested for her comment following the death of politician Bal Thackeray.
Her friend, Renu Srinivasan, who "liked" the comment, was also arrested. The two were later released on bail.
The arrests of led to an outrage in India with critics accusing the government of "abuse of authority".
On Thursday, India's telecoms ministry issued new guidelines which make it harder for the police to arrest people for comments on social networking and other internet sites.
Now, a senior officer must approve before a complaint can be registered under the controversial Section 66A of the Information Technology Act which can send a person to jail for three years for sending an email or electronic message which "causes annoyance or inconvenience".
'Vague'
A Delhi student, Shreya Singhal, has challenged the law in the Supreme Court.
She says "the phraseology of Section 66A is so wide and vague and incapable of being judged on objective standards that it is susceptible to wanton abuse".
On Friday, a Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice Altamas Kabir and Justice J Chelameswar heard her petition.
"The Maharashtra government is directed to explain the circumstances under which the two girls - Shaheen Dhada and Renu Srinivasan - were arrested for posting comments made by them on Facebook," Press Trust of India quoted the justices as saying.
The judges gave the state four weeks to give its response.
The Supreme Court also asked the government in West Bengal state and the southern city of Pondicherry to explain similar arrests made in recent past.
In April, the West Bengal government arrested Professor Ambikesh Mahapatra, a teacher who had emailed to friends a cartoon that was critical of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. He was later released on bail.
In October, Ravi Srinivasan, a 46-year-old businessman in Pondicherry, was arrested for a tweet criticising Karti Chidambaram, son of Indian Finance Minister P Chidambaram. He too was later released on bail.
All the arrests were made under Section 66A.
BBC News - India Facebook arrests: Supreme Court demands explanation
India to Revise Enforcement of Internet Law
NEW DELHI — The Indian government will soon bar lower-level police officials from arresting people for making offensive comments on social networking sites unless the case is first reviewed by a senior police official, a top government official said Thursday.
Kapil Sibal, the communications minister, said during a television interview on Thursday that the recent arrests of two young women for their mild criticism of powerful people “are certainly an abuse of the law.”
But rather than change the law, he advocated changing its enforcement.
“The law is evolutionary, the process is evolutionary,” he said. “Let us now wait for another four to six months; let us wait to see if the process is adequate.”
The change comes a week after Shaheen Dhada, 21, a medical student from the outskirts of Mumbai, was arrested after she posted a mild protest on her Facebook account about the fact that Mumbai, India’s most populous city, had been nearly completely shut down after the death of Bal K. Thackeray, a right-wing hard-liner.
After Renu Srinivasan, 20, Ms. Dhada’s friend, clicked “Like” on Ms. Dhada’s Facebook post, she was also arrested.
The arrests led to national outrage, a storm of coverage in Indian newspapers and television news channels, and tens of thousands of comments on Twitter and Facebook. The policemen who arrested the women were suspended, and the charges against the women were dropped Thursday, according to Indian news media reports.
A strike on Wednesday, called by a right-wing religious organization to protest the officers’ suspension, closed schools, stores and transportation networks for much of the day in Palghar, the Mumbai suburb where the women were arrested. The organization, Shiv Sena, which advocates Hindu supremacy, had filed the complaint about Ms. Dhada’s post that led to the arrests.
Meanwhile, the Indian Supreme Court agreed to consider on Friday whether the law that led to the arrests of the women was unconstitutional.
The justices said they were eager to become involved.
“We were wondering why no one has approached the Supreme Court and even thought of taking up the issue,” said Chief Justice Altamas Kabir, according to Indian news media reports.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/30/w...le-back-enforcement-of-facebook-comments.html
