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The slow movement is part of a larger pattern, says Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch. Authorities are quick to blame those who criticize the government, but say “hate speech and acts of violence by supporters of the government are rarely prosecuted.”
Social media companies with the ability to remove offensive posts and spread misinformation are not filling this gap. “Tech companies take down content as per community guidelines and local laws. In this case both are violated,” says Krishnesh Bapat, Digital Fellow of the Center for Communication Governance at the Internet Freedom Foundation in Delhi. “GitHub does not proactively remove content as far as I know. It does this only after receiving a complaint, and in this case it will take longer.” GitHub did not respond to a request for comment on its policies.
Almost all forms of online harassment in India fall under the general category of cyberbullying. India’s Information Technology Act 2000, commonly known as the Cyber Law, governs online abuse. The law was intended to address e-commerce, but was adjusted in 2008 to include cybercrime. In severe cases, harassment, which can help protect victims, may also fall under the country’s general criminal law, Nappinai says.
Still, some say the country’s online laws need a review. Anushka Jain, attorney for the Internet Freedom Foundation, believes the digital world has changed too much for the law to be effective. “Some provisions of the regulation [Cyber] “The law has become redundant and is now incapable of addressing ongoing problems and rapidly evolving changes and threats.” He adds that the government needs a holistic approach to cyber policy, including stricter laws.
Besides harassment, Muslims in India are also battling misinformation online. For example, last September, ID Fresh, a halal certified food products company owned by a Muslim family,faced a large-scale misinformation campaign He urged “every Hindu” to avoid the product, claiming on social media that the company was mixing cow bones and beef rennet to increase the volume of ready-to-bake dough. The company faced a boycott and saw its sales plummet; He had to start his own campaign to break the record.
So far, there seems to be little action from tech companies or the Indian government to change the situation. This left little respite for victims like commercial pilot Hana Mohsin Khan. took it to twitterTo express his anger when he saw your painting at the January auction. “Muslim women have been targeted again. Again, no action will be taken,” he wrote. “We are caught in a never-ending cycle of anger and suffering. Each. Single. Day.”
Safina Nabi He is an independent multimedia journalist from South Asia based in Kashmir.
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