In the wake of the recent Supreme Court directive striking down Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, the Union Home Ministry has set up a committee to recommend measures for addressing national security concerns.
“After the apex court declared Section 66A of the Information Technology Act unconstitutional, security agencies raised concerns about activities on digital media that threaten national security and inciting violence. Accordingly, a committee headed by Special Secretary (Internal Security) Ashok Prasad has been set up,” said an MHA official, adding that online propaganda by terror outfits was one such concern.
The committee, comprising representatives of the Intelligence Bureau, the National Investigation Agency and the Delhi Police, is expected to submit its recommendations to the Information Technology Ministry in a month.
“One of the feasible ways to address the issue can be a suitable amendment to the Indian Penal Code,” said another official.
There was an urgent need to fill the “void” created in the legal space, the official said, adding, “the 2012 mass exodus of people from the North-East from different parts of the country due to rumour-mongering on the Internet and through mobile phone messages is a glaring example. We need to have laws in place for effective handling of such cases.”
The Supreme Court had on March 24 declared the “draconian” Section 66A of the Information Technology Act unconstitutional, observing: “It is clear that Section 66A arbitrarily, excessively and disproportionately invades the right of free speech and upsets the balance between such right and the reasonable restrictions that may be imposed on such right.”
