The outrage over increasing high-handedness of the law enforcement agencies in cases of alleged cyber crimes has propelled the Centre to intervene and seek a report from the Maharashtra government over the circumstances of arrest of the two girls for their Facebook comment on the shutdown during Shiv Sena patriarch Bal Thackeray’s funeral.
The cyber crimes division of the Union home ministry on Tuesday asked for the facts of the case from the state government.
The MHA is concerned over any overreach by law enforcement authorities in exercising the provisions of the Information Technology Act and criminal laws like the CrPC and the IPC, particularly at a time when the law enforcement agencies are increasingly cracking down on cases of misuse of the social media.
“While we are building capacity for cyber monitoring to tackle cyber crime, the police forces need to implement the laws in a proper manner and not act in haste,” an official said.
At the same time, senior government officials pointed out that do’s and don’ts on social networking media and outreach programmes need to be organised on various platforms to sensitise youth about how to steer clear of inadvertently falling on the wrong side of the law.
The officials cited the recent misuse of the social media during the ethnic clashes in Assam. “A lot of times, the cases of cyber crime involve children or teenagers who have inadvertently posted or forwarded malicious content or communally sensitive content online. There is a need to sensitise youngsters to avoid airing such content that could attract the provisions of the Information Technology Act,” an official said.
The Centre is also in the process of setting up an effective monitoring system where surveillance agencies can track and forewarn the government on any malicious use of the Internet and social media. “We need to strike a balance,” an official confessed.