Circulation Of Objectionable Videos - "Young Girls Facing Menace; Duty Of Govt. To Check Misuse Of Social Media": Orissa High Court

Sparsh Upadhyay

12 Dec 2020 3:53 PM GMT

  • Circulation Of Objectionable Videos - Young Girls Facing Menace; Duty Of Govt. To Check Misuse Of Social Media: Orissa High Court

    While noting that the menace of circulating objectionable videos in the social media has become a problem for young people, especially young girls, the Orissa High Court on Tuesday (08th December) observed that it is the duty of the State Government to see that such kind of misuse of social media should not be permitted. The Bench of Justice S. K. Mishra and Justice Savitri Ratho...

    While noting that the menace of circulating objectionable videos in the social media has become a problem for young people, especially young girls, the Orissa High Court on Tuesday (08th December) observed that it is the duty of the State Government to see that such kind of misuse of social media should not be permitted.

    The Bench of Justice S. K. Mishra and Justice Savitri Ratho was hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by a man who alleged that his daughter had been abducted.

    It was brought to Court's notice that the petitioner's daughter had been rescued, but the youth, who had abducted her, has been harassing the victim by circulating objectionable videos in social media.

    It was also submitted before the Court that she tried to file an FIR, but the same had not been registered by the Jagatpur Police Station i.e. opposite party no.4.

    To this, the Court said

    "Whenever any complaint is made and if a prima facie cognizable case is made out, the police should register the FIR as early as possible and should investigate into the allegations without any delay".

    In that view of the matter, the Court directed the Jagatput Police Station to examine the FIR submitted by the petitioner.

    Further, the Court directed,

    "If a cognizable case is made out, he should register a case if not already registered and take up investigation thereof and take appropriate steps including raiding the houses of the accused if required."

    Related News

    The Allahabad High Court on 15th October observed that technology is being misused to commit the offence, particularly against women.

    In October 2020, the Delhi High Court had directed the intermediaries i.e social media platforms to take all effective measures available with them to ensure that the child porn content is not hosted on their platforms. This order was passed in a petition seeking removal of child porn content from social media.

    In January 2020, the Madras High Court had directed the Director-General of Police (DGP) to constitute dedicated cells in every police station in the State to track unscrupulous offenders who post derogatory content on social media, not only against constitutional and government functionaries but also against the common man.

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