Laws concerning Cyberbullying in India
Abstract
“Unless and until our society recognizes cyber bullying for what it is, the suffering of thousands of silent victims will continue”
-Anna Marie Chavez
India is one most fastest growing and developing country in the world.in the world ranking by different organizations India comes on the 2nd place of usage of internet in day-to-day life the IT sector, the internet is rapidly growing. The increase of cyber network also comes with increase of cybercrimes. The recent case of cyberbullying on P.V Sindhu is known to everyone. The two-time Olympian medalist, the Khelratna winner, one of the strongest women in the world is suffering from cyberbullying. Many females on daily suffer from this crime. Many kids get harassed by this sometime from their own beloved ones. The helpless people need awareness for this crucial topic.
- Keywords- CYBERBULLYING, INTERNET, TECHNOLOGY
- Introduction
Cyberbullying is the harassing or bullying person online who is not capable of protecting themselves. cyberbullying is done by an individual or even in group. The bullying doesn’t have a geographical boundary.as per the definition of US National Crime Prevention Council defines cyberbullying as “the process of using the Internet, cell phones or other devices to send or post text or images intended to hurt or embarrass another person. “The case of cyberbullying is increasing day by day and it has taken a boost in covid pandemic. The cyberbullying has many types like fishing, stalking transaction Frauds, and spoofing. Government of India passed the information technology act of 2005, but it does not a have wide r scope to cover all the cybercrimes in today’s date. Most of the victims of cyber bullying is children’s and adolescents because they are scared to complain or inform about to this their parents, teachers or any authority. They are easy to get scared of the threats that why they are amin target of the bullies.
- Research methodology
The descriptive and secondary quantitative data –based analysis is conducted to understand legal provision of cyberbullying in India. The data collected is from government websites, articles, and journals by different organizations
- Literature review
Technology is becoming more prevalent each day, with that a new form of bullying is happening. The new form is cyberbullying. It is form of bullying that takes place over cell phones, email, websites, and chat rooms. While cyberbullying is a form of bullying, there are differences between cyberbullying and normal bullying. Cyberbullying makes it hard for some students to escape from the bullying, because cyberbullying is through technology, so it allows the bullying to continue outside of the school walls. This literature review is going to give students, teachers, administrators, and parents some helpful tips as to how to look for cyberbullying, and how to prevent it in and out of the schools
- What is cyberbullying, who is working on it, main countries affected
When a teen uses the internet, to target threaten and embarrass another person, this person is called a cyberbully cyber bullying is more common in teenagers and young people than adults. Unless like normal bullying the effects of cyber bullying on a person mental and physical is more significant.
the internet has larger audience so the pictures, videos and text reach out to larger no. of people. there is fair amount of chance if the cyberbully deleted the content it may be saved in some form of screenshot or recording in their devices. If some content goes viral on internet its next to impossible to remove that from internet. Many people are scared and unaware, so they are clueless how-to complaint act against these cyber bullying crimes.
There are mainly six types of cyberbullying
- Harassment- this type of cyberbullying is usually to annoy the person. The social media fights on Instagram or Facebook. posting rude and inappropriate comments. rumors and threats have more wider section in harassment.
- Impersonating -to cause problem is some person’s life cyberbullies impersonates that person internet. catfishing, fake social media accounts. posting of picture or inappropriate e comments, changing online profile or stealing victims’ passwords.
- Inappropriate pictures and videos-sending nude or private pictures and videos on website and sending threats to victim about sharing them. Send spam or mass emails to random person emails id. using photographs to shame the victim.
- Website creation -putting a poll about victim on random website. creating an inappropriate blog on website. Victim information which shared with confidence leaked without the consent.
- Video shaming-sharing a video which humiliation to blackmail the victim. recording humiliating moment and threaten them.
- Other methods-Posting tweets or Facebook posts that is not mentioning victims name directly, but audience know who they’re referencing to sending virus or spyware tot here device
When online harassment goes unaddressed and unpunished, it can generate a self-perpetuating culture of cyberbullying that provokes victims to seek revenge and become cyberbullies themselves, thereby exacerbating the problem. As with traditional bullying, both victims and perpetrators are more likely to engage in criminal conduct in the future. cyberbullying is a problem with lasting ramifications for the individuals involved, as well as society at large. The very breadth of their influence over these fundamental activities has generated strong concerns about potential positive and negative impacts on child and youth well-being. Adolescents are exposed to bullying through instant messaging, cell based text messaging, and social networking sites. Bullying behaviors can include sending threatening messages, spreading vicious rumors, personal attacks, and posting embarrassing pictures. Attention is growing about the risk of adolescents to become victims of aggression perpetrated by peers with new technology. Adolescents who engage in proactive and reactive relational aggression and use high cognitive reappraisal to regulate their emotions are more likely to bully through technology. Overall, these results indicate that relational and aggression through technology shares some common ground and aggressors do not significantly differ in terms of their personality traits.
school bullying has been regarded as a significant issue all over the world. Many young kids in their social interactions with schoolmates are prone to undergo aggression. Yet with the emergence of new means of contact, children now use online devices to bully their peers. The contact between the peers and even bullies is no longer limited to playgrounds. The entire gamut of communication and transfer of information, such as mobile phones, internet chat rooms, social media apps and websites, email, blogs, online anonymous confession rooms etc. has emerged to the new playground for the bully to harass the victim.
Indian laws applicable on cyber bullying
1. Information Technology Act, 2000: The Act of 2000 (Amendment 2008), was passed by the Government of India for handling with crimes on internet. Cyber-bullying has long lasted effects on victims mental and physical health. But there is no law for cyberbullying in this act However, there are some sections for the victims provided in this Act against cyber-bullying:
i. Section 66(D): This Section states that, if someone commits identity theft or cheating by personation they shall be punished. The imprisonment may be up to 3 years and a fine of Rs. 1 Lakh.
ii. Section 66(E): Under this Section if someone clicks or uploads a picture of a person without their consent then they can suffer imprisonment may last up to 3 years and with a fine of Rs. 3 lakhs.
iii. Section 67: Under this Section one can be punished if they transfer, circulate, or upload vulgar or improper material on the internet or social media. The imprisonment may last up to 5 years and with a fine of Rs. 10 Lakhs.
2. Indian Penal Code, 1860: IPC is the official code which is used by authorities as a criminal code. There is no specific section mentioned for cyber-bullying under the act. there are some sections which deal with the offenses against cyber-bullying:
i. Section 507: If any person commits criminal intimidation by anonymous connection on internet which forces victim do some work in voluntarily or without their own will then person can be punished with imprisonment may last up to 2 years.
ii. Section 509: Under this Section one can be punished if they try to insult the modesty of a woman with any kid of gesture, signs, or sounds, this can also be on internet or social media, The imprisonment may last up to 1 year, with/without fine.
iii. Section 354(C): Under this Section one can be punished if he captures video or picture women while she is her private space. The imprisonment may be of 1-3 years and still if the accused continues the offense, he shall be imprisoned for 3-7 years.
iv. Section 354(D): Under this Section one can be punished if they cyber stalk there day to day-based activities on internet with intention to harm them. The imprisonment may last up to 3 years.
v. Section 499: this section is for defamation. The defamation can be also on social media
Some cases on cyber bullying
- State of West Bengal v. Animesh Boxi
In this case, Animesh Boxi posted pictures and videos on internet (porn website) without her consent. Animesh was changer under many acts and sections as follows:
- section of Information Technology Act, 2000 (Sections 66C, 66E and 67/67A)
- IPC (Sections 354A, 354C, 354D, and 509)
According to this section he got imprisonment of 5 years and fine of Rs. 9000.this was one of the first revenge porn cases.
- Prakhar Sharma v. The State of Madhya Pradesh:
In this case. Accused downloaded original picture from victims personal Facebook id and make a fake account and send vulgar messages and picture to people. The accused was found guilty and was punished under sections 66C, and 67/67A of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
- Shreya Singhal & Ors. v. Union of India and Ors.
In this case. Supreme court removed section 66 A of IT act 2005. because it was violation article 19 (2) od Indian constitution which Is a fundamental right. the section prohibited the sharing of abusive, insult, wrong information on internet
- Bois Locker Room,
It is an Instagram group which shook anyone’s moral sense to their cores, the organization which held up a reflect to our faces and made us face the unhappy fact we stay have constructed for ourselves, the group which changed into only a tiny droplet within the good-sized ocean of misogyny. at the same time as we were all struggling to manage up with our lives within the lockdown, the news which turned into included by means of almost every media channel of the United States of America and have become a topic of the prime-time debate, slowly diminished away returned into the confines of normalcy and hid in the back of the slow system of our felony and Judicial system. We nonetheless live inside the world of misogyny and informal sexism and hence need to depend upon our Judicial gadget to play the function of an antique however robust savior. If the statement wasn’t proper, why could there be endless legislations which aim to protect the women at every scenario and putting our existence, be it the place of work, the family or maybe on-line, after which prosecute the offenders who do this? In a socialist united states, the authorities will always try to uplift a certain organization of folks who face troubles in living within the society due to their very nature of lifestyles and historical and societal and cultural luggage consisting of the humans with Disabilities, persecuted minorities and girls and youngsters. this may in addition be warranted with the aid of the presence of Article 15[1] and especially Article 15(three) wherein the nation must not discriminate the human beings noted in that Article and even guard them because the case may be.
Nobody can deny the reality that what occurred with those sufferers, in this situation, changed into now not incorrect and such sort of Incidents on the net are more and more turning into common, but what came afterwards of this incident become also exceedingly unjustified. The findings of this paper monitor the movements of human beings on social media and Delhi commission of ladies where they basically discovered the alleged offenders’ identities and resorted to a “Media Trial” and “Prosecution on Social Media” were also surprisingly questionable and will potentially attract positive different offences as nicely. these actions may be seen as a few exaggerated, pointless outrage to an Incident which highlights a wrong and incapacity of a whole Society. even as we do require a fundamental trade within the society with the aid of fixing our establishments, education system and the overall outlook of handling informal sexism, the shortage of Empathy and primary human decency and failing to apprehend the proper of every character is likewise a difficulty which all people need to recognize and communicate about.
Solution to this problem
Don’t blame the victim who is suffering from mental pressure already. It’s not the victim’s fault. Do not respond to threats or comments it can create more problems.Save the evidence. Save every note picture, screenshots, video or text to complaint about these cyberbully. Communicate you r issues with your parents, friends, teachers or any other wisher. Get advice from some professional. Get back up. see if there is ready to listen to you who is ready to help you block the person on every platform and report them to the website authority. these will not end the problem, but victim will get some peace and will be little less attempt to respond probably won’t end it, but you don’t need the harassment in your face, and you’ll be less tempted to respond. If you are getting threats of physical harm reach out to parents or schools to report this in local police station. Don’t share your password with anyone.in many cases cyber bully can be one of the closest friends. take stand for someone who is been cyberbullied give them emotional and mental support is one the best solution in this type of situation.
Many children and teens and afraid of their parents to share this issue, parent should comfort and listen to whole scenario. Counsel your child opens heartedly. Parents should feel free to ask question to their children in comfortable way. The victim of cyberbullying always of afraid loose of dignity in their social circles. Parents or guardians should help to rebuild that. Also make sure that the victim is not getting differently treated in school or in society
Parents or guardian could make situation worst if they acted rashly. An expert guidance to counsel an examining the situation if necessity. This expert can be a therapist, police authority, school counsellor or a psychiatrist.
Someone victim needs physical and mental healing. Sometimes that means standing up to the bully, sometimes not. Together, you and your child can figure out how to get there.
Conclusion
The generation and innovations have added consistent and drastic adjustments in all our lives. It has helped us grow in methods which led the world’s advanced countries to be what they’re these days. no doubt, it has additionally molded people on man or woman degree such as making cell telephones greater like our frame element than just a device. Social media is an extremely good manner to assimilate varied statistics in few clicks or meet and find different humans with whom one has lost touch with, boost consciousness and plenty more. but, over the time frame, humans have end up too ambitious, judgmental and a fashion-followers. net and social media is as tons of a bane as that like a boon. Bane due to the fact, it could be used for invading privateness of people, spreading hate and pretend information, stealing content material and cyber bullying and so forth.
The virtual world combines intimacy and distance in a unique way that raises new questions about young people’s social and personal development. A case can be made for some degree of censorship, but it also must acknowledge the need for educators to provide children and young people with the skill to manage risk effectively, to know how to protect themselves and to support vulnerable peers who are being mistreated online.
In other words, while sanctions will always have a place, these will not be effective without the counteracting force of working with the emotions that are at the heart of all people’s social interactions. Being connected online to a community is an essential part of young people’s social reality. Its importance cannot be underestimated as a significant aspect of all young people’s daily activity. A majority of states have enacted some kind of legislation to combat bullying and more recently cyberbullying. A growing number of community and school leaders recognize the importance of developing policies and implementing programs designed to address these acts as well as the norms and social values of students. All students must be taught ways to respond appropriately to cyberbullying and potential bullies must recognize there are serious consequences associated with such behavior, including school discipline, litigation, and criminal prosecution . Until more is known about proven effective ways to combat bullying, care must be taken to monitor the outcomes of current practices to help ensure that they result in the desired effects. As we have seen, researchers indicate the importance of distinguishing between minor and serious incidents of cyberbullying. Probably most of the minor instances can be tackled routinely before they escalate into something more serious. The research also shows that cyberbullying is often an extension of real-world bullying with some young people, such as bully-victims, being especially at risk. While it is tempting to think that tighter regulation and stricter sanctions will have an impact on rates of cyberbullying, it may be more productive to work holistically with the relationships in the peer group and at school in order to develop heightened awareness of the consequences of cyberbullying as well as empathy towards those who are badly affected.
Bibisarah shaikh
1st year student at ILS Pune