Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, was enacted into the statute through an amendment in 2008. The section penalised sending "offensive messages" via online communication. In this post we trace the journey of Section 66A of the IT Act from 2008 to 2020.
Despite repeated directions by the Supreme Court, that all pending cases under S. 66A of the Information Technology Act be closed and also that no fresh charges may be registered, the provision continues to be invoked across the country.
Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of India in March, 2015. This section was vague and lead to arbitrary arrests of young college students, a cartoonist and many other social media users. Hence, the judgement came as a huge relief. It
Yesterday, February 15, 2019, a series of directions were issued by the Court to not only close existing Section 66A cases but also prevent fresh registrations. This is a tremendous victory against the dead Section 66A.
Supreme Court issues notice to check any 66A Cases #RightToMeme #Section66A