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Educate cops on free speech: Supreme Court quashes FIR on Article 370 protest, greeting Pakistan.

https://indianexpress.com/article/india/educate-cops-on-free-speech-supreme-court-quashes-fir-on-article-370-protest-greeting-pakistan-9202022/

The bench of Justices A S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan said,

“Every citizen of India has a right to be critical of the action of abrogation of Article 370 and the change of status of Jammu and Kashmir.” It said “describing the day the abrogation happened as a ‘Black Day’ is an expression of protest and anguish. If every criticism or protest of the actions of the State is to be held as an offence under Section 153-A, democracy, which is an essential feature of the Constitution of India, will not survive”.

Section 153-A of the Indian Penal Code penalises “promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony”

“The right to dissent in a legitimate and lawful manner is an integral part of the rights guaranteed under Article 19 (1) (a). Every individual must respect the right of others to dissent. ..“But the protest or dissent,” it said, “must be within four corners of the modes permissible in a democratic set-up...Pointing to “the WhatsApp status of the appellant” Hajam, it said, “This is an expression of his individual view and his reaction to the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution of India” and “does not reflect any intention to do something which is prohibited under Section 153-A. At best, it is a protest, which is a part of his freedom of speech and expression guaranteed by Article 19(1)(a).”..

Setting aside the High Court ruling, the bench said “the High Court has held that the possibility of stirring up the emotions of a group of people cannot be ruled out… “The test to be applied,” it said, is “not the effect of the words on some individuals with weak minds or who see a danger in every hostile point of view. The test is of the general impact of the utterances on reasonable people who are significant in numbers. Merely because a few individuals may develop hatred or ill will, it will not be sufficient to attract clause (a) of sub-section (1) of Section 153-A of the IPC”.

Twitter has, in their handle https://twitter.com/GlobalAffairs exposed the censorship that is being carried out by the BJP Govt. https://twitter.com/GlobalAffairs/status/1760387644608192560?t=9QEgy68CU2ikSJQ57olOyg&s=19

The Indian government has issued executive orders requiring X to act on specific accounts and posts... a writ appeal challenging the Indian government's blocking orders remains pending...The lack of disclosure (of such orders) can lead to a lack of accountability and arbitrary decision-making.

Posts by Linda Yaccarino @lindayaX
X is an entirely new company working tirelessly to elevate all our priorities with a renewed philosophy on transparency..... In line with our commitment, we continue to work closely with the European Commission on our Digital Services Act (DSA) compliance.

Manu @mshahi0024 ...-Curbing Voices of Accounts,who are representing the protestor sides of stories, but Zero Actions on Accounts,who r spreading Consistent FAKE misinformation against the Protesters... Murder of Article 19.

Paul Koshy @Paul_Koshy·We are past the age of free speech and entering another age- an age of thought control. You will say what thought control prompts you to say. It is a serious problem.

Pooja Sangwan @ThePerilousGirl  Freedom of speech comes with duties but if someone not comply with those duties it's the government's responsibility to take action against those to maintain the sovereignty and integrity of India. Riot creators, mis information spreader, anarchy creators doesn't deserve freedom of spreading such venomous views over social media in a country of large diversity with the population of 140 crores the views that can be very harmful for the India as a nation and threat to the constitution of India. Law of the land is necessary you can not interrupt in law for the sake of freedom of speech.

Vertigo_Warrior @VertigoWarrior The law of the land must be respected. Accounts/ posts which spread misinformation, can lead to communal clashes or are a likely threat to the security may need to be restricted. Free speech is never absolute. Even x restricts reach based on the content they seem inappropriate

Darshan Pathak @darshanpathak  It is Indian Govt's responsibility to maintain law and order. It is well within its right to do what it is doing to prevent riots and violence. You will have to comply with all the orders. And you can shove your disagreement far up where the sun don't shine.

Bitcoin Bowhunter @CryptoBow82 We all know that any appeals will be delayed until after the election cycle! This is nothing more than a back door to censorship for political gains! Do better X

 ट्विटर ने बोला सच, सरकार बंद करा रही है अकाउंट https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hb2vyx0Azrs 
Ravish Kumar Official

In the wake of the scheduled ‘Delhi Chalo’ farmers’ protest on February 13, the Haryana government on Saturday evening announced the suspension of mobile internet services from February 11 to February 13 in Ambala, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Jind, Hisar, Fatehabad and Sirsa including Dabwali districts. \https://thewire.in/agriculture/internet-suspended-in-7-haryana-districts-as-farmers-plan-for-delhi-chalo-protest

In an order, additional chief secretary, Haryana government T.V.S.N. Prasad said that in view of the call for a farmers’ march/agitation given by certain organisations,”There is a clear potential of disruption of public utilities, damage to public assets and amenities and disturbance of public law and order in above mentioned districts on account of misuse of internet services by way of spread of inflammatory material and false rumours, which are being/could be transmitted/circulated to the public through social media/messaging services on mobile internet services, SMS services and other dongle services.” All Haryana telecom operators have been directed to ensure compliance with the order.

by Kusum Arora and Vivek Gupta 

11/02/2024