Article

GLIMPSE OF INTERNET TROLLING: LAWS AGAINST TROLLING IN INDIA

by Tripti-Bhushan
May 01, 2019 16:16

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Trolls, let’s call, break the wall , To begin with internet trolling lets know about it a little bit , basically you all have met people on social media , who generally abuses , publically insults you just to make themselves correct and prove their own case . Trolls are people who post injurious and questionable comments or remarks via web-based networking media stages to trouble other individuals, with the sole wrongful intention just to hurt the feelings of people and to make them angry. Their messages are with the end goal that they can move everybody's consideration from the topic. Trolling, abusing, threatening, stalking, voyeurism, body-shaming, defaming, surveillance, revenge porn and other forms of indecent representation of women are rampant in the cyber world. If an individual’s behaviour is harassing or threatening, then it can be illegal whether it’s through the Internet or face-to-face. Dominant part of Indians still trust that that Internet is a worldview which stipends them namelessness and the equivalent would thus be able to be utilized for hitting anyone cowardly. The sort of trolling that is going on in India social networking media stages, particularly twitter, is very much genuine. Today if we look down With trolling, cyber bullying and cyber harassment constantly increasing in the Indian ecosystem, one has to quickly realise that common citizens of India do not have adequate legal mechanisms and redress options open to them for dealing with such threats. The Indian Information Technology Act, 2000 is the only legislation that India has for dealing with anything digital.

INTERNET TROLLING: LAWS AGAINST TROLLING IN INDIA

Now day’s people are making Trolling as their habit, they feel that it could be done without any reason and there is no harm in it. Trolling is done intentionally by people just for the sake of fun, entertainment without a reason making really hard for the other people. There is no office in India to speciﬁcally screen trolls or remarks posted by trolls or to seriously work on this matter further people complain to police, at that point police can approach a court of to pass a request guiding CERT-In and Google to erase a lot of slanderous web journals. The Police is engaged to get such a request from the Court according to area 69A of the IT Act, 2000

Trolling is the subset of crime of Online Abuse; Trolls are the new generation of cyber criminals who propagate “cybercrime of hate”. Even though some may argue trolling is not a pure crime but the ﬁne line coupled with consequences like drawing the victims to suicide, coz of comments by trolls. Now we know there is no such specific law against concept of trolling in India but still under IT act sec 66E says that , It punishes anyone who intentionally or knowingly captures, publishes or transmits the image of a private area of any person without his or her consent under circumstances violating the privacy of that person. The word ‘consent’ gives women a solid reason to rely on this section. Further often people are found posting sexually offensive content online just to troll people for them If a person posts any sexually offensive content on the Internet, the offender is punished with the imprisonment up to 3 years along with a fine of Rs 10 Lakh. If this offense is repeated, he can be punished with imprisonment up to 7 years along with a fine of the same amount. Further under Indian Penal code if the person who posts dirty comments on social media is liable for a one-year jail along with the fine. If a person sends pornographic content to women against her will or requests for sexual favours, the offender is punishable with a three-year imprisonment and fine, this comes under the purview of sexual harassment under section 354A of IPC.

On the basis of online trolling, the person who trolls another show their behaviour and because of their behaviour people are affected. The possible adverse effects of cyber bullying which can be seen are physical, psychological, or loss in academic performance, and these are most pronounced for the cyber bully/victim category. Higher rates of depression is generally raising and anxiety are often noted among cyber victims along with refusal to school and declining academic performance. These students are also found to be more prone to report headache, stomach ache, bed wetting, and various other psychosomatic complaints. These are the major issues faced by people because of online trolls and it is taking a head on social media on various platforms whether it is facebook, twitter, instagram or any web portal. People often post defamatory content in regard to other people just to harm their reputation so in this case they may be held liable under Indian Penal code. If a person conceals his/her identity to threaten another, they can be jailed for up to two years. This is very helpful and effective in dealing with online trolls. If you are a woman, and bothered by a man who follows you and contacts or attempts to contact you or try to make any sort of personal relations despite your lack of interest; or keeps an eye on your activities on the internet or any other form of electronic communication, then you can take action against them by filing a case under the IPC with the help of a lawyer.