Can Retweeting, Sharing Or Forwarding Offensive Posts Attract Criminal Liability? Explainer

It is often seen that many Twitter users put a disclaimer 'retweets are not endorsement' in their bio. But can this disclaimer shield one from criminal liability?Recently, the Deputy Commissioner of Delhi Police KPS Malhotra said that an individual has to take responsibility for retweets and that even endorsement of a view on social media becomes the view of the person sharing or retweeting it."If you endorse a view on social media, it becomes your view. Retweeting and saying I don't know, doesn't stand here. Responsibility is yours. Time does not matter, you only have to retweet and it becomes new. Police action was on the basis of when matter came to our cognisance," the DCP remarked.If you endorse a view on social media, it becomes your view. Retweeting & saying I don't know, doesn't stand here. Responsibility is yours. Time does not matter, you only have to re-tweet & it becomes new. Police action was on basis of when matter came to our cognizance: DCP IFSO pic.twitter.com/1zQcRPKR80— ANI (@ANI) June 28, 2022 In this explainer piece, LiveLaw traces legal provisions and important judicial decisions on the question as to whether retweets or forwarding a post on social media by itself be a criminal offence? What Does Indian Law Say? While there is no direct provision in Indian law which declares retweeting, forwarding or sharing posts on social media a criminal offence, there are various provisions which provide for criminal liability under Information Technology Act and Indian Penal Code. Sec. 67 of IT Act provides for punishment for publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form. The imprisonment may extend to three years and fine and in event of second or subsequent conviction, five years and extended fine. Similarly, sec. 67A of the Act provides for punishment for publishing or transmitting of material depicting children in sexually explicit act in electronic form. It provides for an imprisonment which may extend to five years and fine. In event of second or subsequent conviction, seven years and extended fine. Apart from IT Act, the Indian Penal Code specifies certain provisions which may be invoked against an individual when any derogatory or offensive message is sent or shared in cyberspace, such as Sections 153A, 153B, 292, 295A, 499 etc. These offences relate to promotion of communal hatred, obscenity, hurting of religious sentiments and defamation.What Have Indian Courts Said?In 2017, Delhi High Court dismissed a petition of Aam Aadmi Party leader Raghav Chadha challenging summons issued to him in a defamation case filed by then Union Minister Arun Jaitley while leaving it to the trial court to decide if retweeting would attract liability under sec. 499 of IPC (defamation). Observing that a retweet brings the contents of original tweet into immediate attention of the followers of the user who retweets, Justice Sangita Dhingra observed that the question as to whether retweeting would attract criminal liability has to be determined during trial of a case. The Madras High Court in 2018 ruled that sharing or forwarding a message in social media is equal to accepting and endorsing the message. The observations were made while rejecting anticipatory bail plea of journalist turned BJP leader S Ve Shekher who allegedly shared a derogatory Facebook post on women journalists. "No one has any right to abuse women and if done it is a violation of rights. When calling a person with community name itself is a crime, using such unparliamentarily words is more heinous. Words are more powerful than acts, When a celebrity-like person forwards messages like this, the common public will start believe it that this type of things are going on", the Court said. Shekher's special leave petition against the decision was disposed of by Apex Court on June 1, 2018 as the State submitted that chargesheet in the matter was filed. Therefore, the Court said that Shekher would appear before Trial Court, where he can seek regular bail. Hence the larger question relating to criminal liability for forwarding a post remained undecided.A Look On International Decisions While there is no authoritative decision by Indian Courts on the subject, some of the International Courts have tried to answer the same. Supreme Court of Republic of Philippines in the case of Jose Jesus M. Disini v. The Secretary of Justice in 2014 discussed about various dimensions of online interactions and engagements including Facebook and micro blogging websites such as Twitter. The Court also adjudicated the question whether online postings such as liking a defamatory statement, commenting or sharing it with others, are to be regarded as aiding or abetting under Philippines law. The Court observed that except for the original author of assailed statement, the rest (those who pressed Like, Comment and Share) are essentially "knee-jerk sentiments" of readers who may think little or haphazardly of their response to the original...

Can Retweeting, Sharing Or Forwarding Offensive Posts Attract Criminal Liability? Explainer

Nupur Thapliyal

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