Plea In Supreme Court Seeks Directions To Hold Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter Etc. Responsible For Allegedly Spreading Hate, Fake News

The Plea has arrayed Union of India, Ministry of Home Affairs, The Ministry of Corporate Affairs, The Ministry of Telecommunication, Twitter Communications India Private Limited and Facebook India as respondents.

The Plea, which has been filed by Advocate Vineet Jindal through Advocate Raj Kishor Choudhary, states,

"The petitioner, has been compelled to file the present writ petition in the public interest for directing the respondents to make laws for regulating/governing social media platforms."

Further, the petitioner has submitted that the plea is being filed in wake of two tweets by the name of one Armin Navabi from his Twitter handle @ArminNavabi against Hindu goddess and using derogatory terms.

The plea also states that Freedom of expression is a complex right. This is because freedom of expression is not absolute and carries with it special duties and responsibilities therefore it may be subject to certain restrictions provided by law.

The Plea says,

"It would be beneficial for India to look at the regulation standards implemented by different countries in order to introduce guidelines which form a balance between freedom of speech and accountability of social media platforms."

Significantly, it has been pointed out in the plea that,

"Our country has seen plenty of communal violence in the past, but in today's time of social media, these aggressions are not just restricted to the regional or the local population, the entire country is taken along. The fog of rumours, innuendo, and hate that act as kindling in a local communal clash immediately spread across India through social media. This has reduced the social distance between local communal conflict and national communal polarization. Today, a local communal conflict can be made a national issue in seconds, and a larger communal narrative can quickly be constructed from a patchwork of local incidents."

The plea further mentions about many incidents which were allegedly triggered because of social media, for example:

· 2014 Pune Case (related to a Facebook Post that contained defamatory pictures with allegedly derogatory references to warrior king Shivaji Maharaj, late Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray and others

· 2013, Muzaffarnagar Case (a fake video was shared which was one of the triggers of communal clashes)

· 2012 fake and morphed videos of Tibetans were circulated under the claim that they depicted the persecution of the Rohingyas in Myanmar, leading to a mass exodus of people and even small riots in certain metropolitan cities.

· Citing the report of The Economic Times, the plea states that social media posts triggered 7 communal riots in a month in West Bengal.

The petitioner has prayed for the following reliefs-

1. Issue a writ in the nature of mandamus directing the respondents to make separate Laws for regulating Social Media Platforms.

2. Issue a writ in the nature of mandamus directing the respondents to hold Social Media Houses, i.e., Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Instagram etc. directly responsible for spreading hate speeches among society.

3. Issue a writ in the nature of mandamus directing the respondents to frame separate laws for criminal prosecution of persons involved in spreading hate & fake news through Social Media Platforms.

4. Issue a writ in the nature of mandamus directing the respondents to establish a mechanism for automatic removal of hate speeches & fake news within a short time frame so that the counter production of such hate speeches or fake news can be minimized.

5. Issue a writ in the nature of mandamus directing the respondents to appoint an expert investigating officer in each case registered for spreading hate & fake news through Social Media Platforms.