Social Networking

DAYALBAGH EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTE
(Deemed University)

DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
MBM 104











INTERNAL TOPIC REPORT ON
SOCIAL NETWORKING
TRANSITION FROM PHYSICAL WORLD TO DIGITAL WORLD
ANHAD KASHYAP
&
SUBHASH BHARADWAJ
MBA 1
st
SEMESTER
Gurgaon Distance Education Center





INTRODUCTION
“Societies have been shaped more by the
nature of the media by which men
communicate than by the content of the
communication”
- Herbert Marshall Mc. Luhan
Canadian Philosopher of
Communication Theory
The term ‘social’ refers to a characteristic
of living organisms as applied to
populations of humans and other animals.
It always refers to the interaction of
organisms with other organisms and to
their collective co-existence, irrespective
of whether they are aware of it or not,
and irrespective of whether the
interaction is voluntary or involuntary. On
the other hand, ‘network’ means a group
or system of interconnected people or
things. Therefore ‘social networking’ is a
term to do with interconnecting of people
or things irrespective of the medium.
Our generation limits the term ‘social
networking’ to the internet medium.
However, in the true sense, a forum, a
seminar are too examples of social
networking. In the 80’s Rajiv Gandhi and
Sam Pitroda took major policy decisions to
connect people at the bottom of the
pyramid via voice. In fact connecting
individuals through voice is too social
networking. Connecting people of India
through data i.e. internet followed by
applications like Facebook, twitter are too
examples of Facebook. All networking
amongst humans is social networking; the
mediums may be physical or virtual.
During the course of this report, we would
be limiting social networking to the

Internet medium. We would see the pros
and cons of internet and talk about
adopting methods and mechanisms to
make internet a more transparent and
safe place. We would evaluate the views
of the Government about regulation of
the internet and try to make a distinction
as to how the world of internet is
different from our physical world. We
would also not be getting into the details
about the types of social networks or the
technologies involved, rather our focus
would be on the positive and negative
impact of social networks on our society.
PROs OF SOCIAL NETWORKS

The benefits of social networking
platforms vary based on platform type,
features and the company itself. Social
networking platforms may allow
organizations to improve communication
and productivity by disseminating
information among different groups of
employees in a more efficient manner.
While it is not meant to be all-inclusive,
the list below outlines some of the
possible advantages of social media use
by workplaces.





 Facilitates open communication,
leading to enhanced information
discovery and delivery.
 Allows employees to discuss ideas,
post news, ask questions and share
links.
 Provides an opportunity to widen
business contacts.
 Targets a wide audience, making it a
useful and effective recruitment tool.
 Improves business reputation and
client base with minimal use of
advertising.
 Expands market research, implements
marketing campaigns, delivers
communications and directs
interested people to specific web
sites.
Social networking sites spread
information faster than any other media.
Over 50% of people learn about breaking
news on social media. 65% of traditional
media reporters and editors use sites like
Facebook and LinkedIn for story research,
and 52% use Twitter.
Law enforcement uses social networking
sites to catch and prosecute criminals.
67% of US federal, state, and local law
enforcement professionals think "social
media helps solve crimes more quickly." In
2011 the NYPD added a Twitter tracking
unit and has used social networking to
arrest criminals who have bragged of their
crimes online. In India, several police
departments are now doing online
surveillance and have their online
facebook pages too. When the Vancouver
Canucks lost the 2011 Stanley Cup in
Vancouver, the city erupted into riots.
Social media was used to catch vandals
and rioters as social networking site users
tagged the people they knew in over
2,000 photos posted to the sites.
Social networking sites help students do
better at school. 59% of students with
access to the Internet report that they use
social networking sites to discuss
educational topics and 50% use the sites
to talk about school assignments.
Social networking sites allow people to
improve their relationships and make
new friends. 70% of adult social
networking users visit the sites to connect
with friends and family, and increased
online communication strengthens
relationships. 52% of teens using social
media report that using the sites has
helped their relationships with friends,
88% report that social media helps them
stay in touch with friends they cannot see
regularly, 69% report getting to know
students at their school better, and 57%
make new friends.
Social media helps empower business
women. Being able to connect on social
networking sites gives business women a
support group not readily found offline
where female CEOs of Fortune 500
companies are outnumbered by male
CEOs 15 to 485. Many social media sites
are dominated by women: 72% of
Pinterest users are women, 58% of
Facebook users, 62% of MySpace users,
60% of Yelp users, and 53% of Instagram
users.






Social Media Male Female User Ratio
Business women use Twitter chats to
support each other, give and receive peer
knowledge, and have guest "speakers"
share expert knowledge. One.org helps
African women entrepreneurs connect on
social media to grow their businesses.
Social media sites help employers find
employees and job-seekers find work.
64% of companies are on two or more
social networks for recruiting because of
the wider pool of applicants and more
efficient searching capabilities. 89% of job
recruiters have hired employees through
LinkedIn, 26% through Facebook, and 15%
through Twitter. One in six job-seekers
credit social media for helping them find
their current job. 52% of job-seekers use
Facebook for the job search, 38% use
LinkedIn, and 34% use Twitter.
Social networking sites increase voter
participation. Facebook users reported
they are more likely to vote if they see on
social networking sites that their friends
did. During the Nov. 2012 Indian UP
elections, Facebook users who visit the
site more than once a day were 2.5 times
more likely to attend a political rally or
meeting, 57% more likely to persuade
someone about a vote, and 43% more
likely to say they will vote.
Social media facilitates political change.
Social networking sites give social
movements a quick, no-cost method to
organize, disseminate information, and
mobilize people.
Social networking is good for the
economy. Social media sites have created
a new industry and thousands of jobs in
addition to providing new income and
sales.
Social media sites empower individuals
to make social change and do social good
on a community level. Social media
shares popularized nine-year old Scottish
student, Martha Payne, and her blog,
"Never Seconds," which exposed the state
of her school’s lunch program prompting
international attention that resulted in
changes to her school and the formation
of "Friends of Never Seconds" charity to
feed children globally.
Social networking sites help senior
citizens feel more connected to society.
According to a 2010 Pew Internet &
American Life Project study, the 74-year
old and older age group is the fastest
growing demographic on social media
sites with the percentage quadrupling
from 2008 to 2010, from 4% to 16%.
Seniors report feeling happier due to
online contact with family and access to
information like church bulletins that have
moved online and out of print.
Social networking sites help people who
are socially isolated or shy connect with
other people. More than 25% of teens
report that social networking makes them
feel less shy, 28% report feeling more
outgoing, and 20% report feeling more
confident (53% of teens identified as
somewhat shy or "a lot" shy in general).





Youth who are "less socially adept" report
that social networks give them a place to
make friends and typically quiet students
can feel more comfortable being vocal
through a social media platform used in
class. Shy adults also cite social media as a
comfortable place to interact with others.
Social media allows for quick, easy
dissemination of public health and safety
information from reputable sources. The
World Health Organization (WHO) uses
social media to "disseminate health
information and counter rumours," which
was especially helpful after the Mar. 2011
Japanese earthquake and nuclear disaster
when false information spread about
ingesting salt to combat radiation.
Social networking provides academic
research to a wider audience, allowing
many people access to previously
unavailable educational resources.
Information previously restricted to
academia's "ivory tower" can now be
shared with the public who do not have
access to restricted journals or costly
databases. Researchers from a wide
variety of fields are sharing photos,
providing status updates, collaborating
with distant colleagues, and finding a
wider variety of subjects via social media,
making the research process and results
more transparent and accessible to a
larger public.
Corporations and small businesses use
social media to benefit themselves and
consumers. Small businesses benefit
greatly from the free platforms to connect
with customers and increase visibility of
their products or services. Almost 90% of
big companies using social media have
reported "at least one measurable
business benefit." For example, large
chain restaurants are using social media
to quickly disseminate information to
managers, train employees, and receive
immediate customer feedback on new
items, allowing for quick revision if
needed.
Social networking sites offer teachers a
platform for collaboration with other
teachers and communication with
students outside the classroom. More
than 80% of US colleges and university
faculty use social media; more than 50%
use it for teaching; and 30% for
communicating with students. Social
Education platforms such as EDX and
Coursera have proved to be some major
benefits of social networking. Educators
from around the world interact with each
other and bring guest teachers, librarians,
authors, and experts into class via social
networks like Twitter and social
networking tools like Skype. Edmodo, an
education-specific social networking site
designed for contact between students,
teachers, and parents, reached over ten
million users on Sep. 11, 2012.
Social networking sites offer a way for
musicians and artists to build audiences
even if they don’t have a corporate
contract. 64% of teenagers listen to music
on YouTube, making it the "hit-maker" for
songs rather than radio (56%) or CDs
(50%). For example, pop star Justin Bieber
was discovered on YouTube when he was
12 years old, and, in 2012 at 18 years old,
Bieber’s net worth was estimated at $80
million. The National Endowment for the
Arts found that people who interact with





the arts online through social media and
other means are almost three times more
likely to attend a live event.
Colleges and universities use social media
to recruit and retain students. 87% of
colleges and universities use Facebook to
recruit students, 76% use Twitter, and
73% use YouTube. Colleges and
universities use Facebook apps and other
social media tools to increase student
retention. Social networking sites are also
being used to give students a support
system at community colleges that tend
to be commuter based and can leave
students with no in-person social
network.
Social Networking has benefited our
society in many ways. Though, we are
still learning to use it positively.
CONs OF SOCIAL MEDIA
Social networking has become a huge
method of communicating between
family, friends and even strangers.
People are spending more and more time
on social networking sites. Whether it’s
via Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn, social
media plays a major part in many people’s
lives. And as much as this can be a good
thing, it can also be a bad thing–primarily
because it takes us away from what’s
really important in life.
There are many disadvantages to using
social media–
 You get so lost in social media that you
can’t seem to function if you’re not
connected to your electronic world.
You offer play-by-plays of your life,
rather than just living it. And this can
be a dangerous and sad dependency.
 You get so lost in your electronic
relationships that you don’t have time
to connect face-to-face–without
Skype. Sure, it’s great to keep in touch
with friends and family who are on the
other side of the country or world, but
this can lead to you neglecting those
who are close by, such as parents,
siblings and friends.
 Social media can be so addictive that
you willingly waste your time on the
computer or phone, Tweeting or
Facebooking all day long. If you’re not
updating your profile or informing
people of your every move, you’re
checking up on what friends and even
foes are up to. The process becomes
such a waste of time. Your God-given
life goes on around you, but you might
be missing it.
 The biggest disadvantage of social
media is that it leaves the door open
for many dangerous encounters.
Sharing private information is a very
dangerous aspect of social media. If
you missed our post on Internet
safety, be sure to check it out.
Muzaffar Nagar Riots triggered by Social Media





Social media enables the spread of
unreliable and false information. 49.1%
of people have heard false news via social
media. On Sep. 5, 2012 false rumors of
fires, shootouts, and caravans of gunmen
in a Mexico City suburb spread via Twitter
and Facebook caused panic, flooded the
local police department with over 3,000
phone calls, and temporarily closed
schools. Shashank Tripathi, tweeting as
@ComfortablySmug, spread false
information in the aftermath of Hurricane
Sandy by posting on Twitter that the New
York Stock Exchange was flooding and
that the power company would cut off
electricity to all of Manhattan; the bogus
information was picked up by national
news outlets including CNN and the
Weather Channel.
Social networking sites lack privacy and
expose users to government and
corporate intrusions. 13 million users said
they had not set or did not know about
Facebook's privacy settings and 28%
shared all or nearly all of their posts
publicly.
Students who are heavy social media
users tend to have lower grades.
Students who use social media had an
average GPA of 3.06 while non-users had
an average GPA of 3.82 and students who
used social networking sites while
studying scored 20% lower on tests.
College students’ grades dropped 0.12
points for every 93 minutes above the
average 106 minutes spent on Facebook
per day. Two-thirds of teachers believe
that social media does more to distract
students than to help academically.
Social networking sites can lead to stress
and offline relationship problems. A
University of Edinburgh Business School
study found the more Facebook friends a
person has, the more stressful the person
finds Facebook to use. According to a Feb.
9, 2012 Pew Internet report, 15% of adult
social network users had an experience on
a social networking site that caused a
friendship to end, 12% of adult users had
an experience online that resulted in a
face-to-face argument, and 3% of adults
reported a physical confrontation as the
result of an experience on a social
networking site.
Social networking sites entice people to
waste time. 40% of 8 to 18 year olds
spend 54 minutes a day on social media
sites. 36% of people surveyed listed social
networking as the "biggest waste of time,"
above fantasy sports (25%), watching TV
(23%), and shopping (9%). When alerted
to a new social networking site activity,
like a new tweet or Facebook message,
users take 20 to 25 minutes on average to
return to the original task. In 30% of
cases, it took two hours to fully return
attention to the original task. 42% of
American Internet users play games like
Farmville or Mafia Wars on social
networking sites.
Using social media can harm job stability
and employment prospects. Job
recruiters reported negative reactions to
finding profanity (61%), poor spelling or
grammar (54%), illegal drugs (78%), sexual
content (66%), pictures of or with alcohol
(47%), and religious content (26%) on
potential employees’ social media pages.
Anthony Weiner, former US





Representative, was forced to resign after
a Twitter sexting scandal in 2011. Several
athletes were banned from the 2012
Olympics because of their racist social
media posts.
The use of social networking sites is
correlated with personality and brain
disorders, such as the inability to have in-
person conversations, a need for instant
gratification, Attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder, and self-centered
personalities, as well as addictive
behaviours. Pathological Internet Use
(caused or exacerbated by social
networking use) is associated with
feelings of loneliness, depression, anxiety
and general distress. The 2013 Diagnostic
and Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders (DSM) is evaluating "Internet
Addiction Disorder," for inclusion. A 2008
UCLA study revealed web users had
fundamentally altered prefrontal cortexes
due, in part, to the fast pace of social
networking sites rewiring the brain with
repeated exposure.
Social media causes people to spend less
time interacting face-to-face. A Jan. 2012
Center for the Digital Future at the USC
Annenberg School study found that the
percentage of people reporting less face-
to-face time with family in their homes
rose from 8% in 2000 to 34% in 2011.
32% of those surveyed were on social
media or texting during meals (47% of 18-
34 year olds) instead of talking with family
or friends. 10% of people younger than 25
years old respond to social media and text
messages during sex.
Criminals use social media to commit and
promote crimes. Gangs use the sites to
recruit younger members, coordinate
violent crimes, and threaten other gangs.
Offline crime, like home robberies, may
result from posting personal information
such as vacation plans or stalkers gaining
information about a victim’s whereabouts
from posts, photos, or location tagging
services.
Social media can endanger the military
and journalists. The US Army notes that
checking in with location based services
on social networking sites like Foursquare
or Facebook could expose sensitive
whereabouts and endanger military
personnel and operations. In 2011 a
Mexican journalist was murdered by the
Zetas drug cartel because she used
Twitter to report on cartel crime. A
blogger was found murdered by a
Mexican cartel in 2011 with the note "this
happened to me for not understanding
that I shouldn’t report things on the social
networks."
Social networking sites harm employees'
productivity. 51% of people aged 25-34
accessed social media while at work.
Two-thirds of US workers with Facebook
accounts access the site during work
hours, even spending just 30 minutes a
day on social media while at work would
cost a 50-person company 6,500 hours of
productivity a year. 108] 51% of American
workers think work productivity suffers
because of social media.
Social networking sites facilitate cyber
bullying. 49.5% of students reported
being the victims of bullying online and
33.7% reported committing bullying
behaviour online. 800,000 minors were
harassed or cyber bullied on Facebook





according to a June 2012 Consumer
Reports survey. Middle school children
who were victims of cyber bullying were
almost twice as likely to attempt suicide.
Adults can also be victims of cyber
bullying, from social, familial, or
workplace aggression being displayed on
social media sites.
Social networking sites enable "sexting,"
which can lead to criminal charges and
the unexpected proliferation of personal
images. Once restricted to cell phone
texts, "sexting" has moved to social media
with teens posting, or sending via
messaging, risqué photos of themselves
or others. In 2008 and 2009, US law
enforcement agencies saw 3,477 cases of
youth-produced sexual images with 2,291
agencies seeing at least one case. As a
result, teens and adults are being charged
with possessing and distributing child
pornography, even if the teen took and
distributed a photo of him/her. 88% of
private self-produced sexual images
posted to social media are stolen by
pornography websites and disseminated
to the public, often without the subject's
knowledge.
People who use social networking sites
are prone to social isolation. Social
networking can exacerbate feelings of
disconnect (especially for youth with
disabilities), and put children at higher risk
for depression, low self-esteem, and
eating disorders. The "passive
consumption" of social media (scanning
posts without commenting) is related to
loneliness.
Social networking sites encourage
amateur advice and self-diagnosis for
health problems which can lead to
harmful or life-threatening results. One
in five Americans uses social media for
health care information. An American
Journal of Public Health study revealed
that, "Social media may also pose a
hazard to vulnerable people through the
formation and influence of ‘extreme
communities'—online groups that
promote and provide support for beliefs
and behaviours normally unacceptable by
the social mainstream such as anorexia,
suicide, and deliberate amputation." A
North Carolina blogger was criminally
charged with "practicing dietetics or
nutrition without a license" for offering
potentially dangerous nutritional advice
about the Paleo diet while posing as an
expert. Jeffrey Benabio, MD, searched for
"eczema" on Twitter and found, in the
first 100 results, 84 were spam and
several others gave harmful and
sometimes bizarre advice like using
toothless fish to eat eczema affected skin.
Social media aids the spread of hate
groups. A summer 2012 Baylor University
study examined Facebook hate groups
focused on President Barack Obama and
found a resurgence of racial slurs and
stereotypes not seen in mainstream
media in decades like blackface images
and comparisons of President Obama to
apes. Social networking sites allow hate
groups to recruit youth and to redistribute
their propaganda. According to the
Southern Poverty Law Center the
Christian Identity religion, a splinter
faction of the white supremacist group
Aryan Nations, uses social media to
recruit members.





Children may endanger themselves by not
understanding the public and viral nature
of social networking sites. The 2012 film
Project X, about an out of control high
school house party due to social media
promotion, prompted copycat parties
across the US resulting in arrests for
vandalism, criminal trespassing, and other
offenses. Up to 600 Dutch riot police had
to be called in to break up a teen's
birthday party to which about 30,000
people were accidentally invited after a
Facebook post thought to be private went
viral (quickly moving on to Twitter and
YouTube as well). As a result, at least
three people were hurt and 20 people
were arrested for vandalism, looting,
setting cars on fire, and damaging
lampposts. In 2012, a similar incident
happened in Los Angeles and resulted in
the teen host beaten and hospitalized.
Social networking enables cheating on
school assignments. Students in
California, New York City, and Houston
posted photos of standardized tests to
social media sites, allowing students who
had not yet taken the tests to see the
questions (and potentially find answers)
ahead of time. The SAT has had similar
problems with students posting parts of
the exam to social media.
Social networking sites' advertising
practices may constitute an invasion of
privacy. An ExactTarget marketing
strategy report tells companies, "When a
user clicks on a Facebook like button
belonging to your brand, you’re
immediately granted access to additional
information about this customer, from
school affiliation and workplace
information to their birthdates and other
things they like… Marketers can access
and leverage data in ways that will truly
alarm customers." From social media
sites, simple algorithms can determine
where you live, sexual orientation,
personality traits, signs of depression, and
alma maters among other information,
even if users put none of that data on
their social networking profiles.
Social media can facilitate inappropriate
student-teacher relationships. The Texas
Education Agency opened 156 cases
about "inappropriate relationships"
between educators and students in the
2011-2012 school year; 86 cases were
reported in 2007-2008 and education
experts blame the rise of social media for
the increase in cases. Social media allows
for unsupervised interactions between
students and teachers, which can easily
escalate into sexual or otherwise
inappropriate relationships.
Unauthorized sharing on social
networking sites exposes artists to
copyright infringement, loss of
intellectual property, and loss of income.
Social media sites have copyright
regulations but they can be difficult to
enforce. Pinterest relies upon the re-
publication of images from the web and, if
users do not use the site conscientiously,
artists’ content can be posted without
license, attribution, or payment. Vogue
Spain was accused of stealing New York
street photographer Sion Fullana's
Instagram photos and posting them to
their own Instagram feed without
acknowledging the source.





Using social media can harm students'
chances for college admissions. College
administrators scan Facebook profiles for
evidence of illegal behaviour by students.
A 2012 Kaplan Test Prep survey found that
35% of college admissions officers
discovered information like essay
plagiarism, vulgarities, or illegal activities
on social media that "negatively impacted
prospective students' admission chances"
(up from 12% in 2011).
Social media posts cannot be completely
deleted and all information posted can
have unintended consequences. The
Library of Congress has been archiving all
public tweets from Twitter's Mar. 2006
inception forward. Information about an
affair posted on Facebook, for example,
can lead to and be used against someone
in divorce proceedings because the
information, once posted, can never be
completely deleted. Facebook was named
as a source of information in one-third of
all divorces filed in 2011.
Social networking site users are
vulnerable to security attacks such as
hacking, identity theft, and viruses. Social
networks do not scan messages for
viruses or phishing scams, leading to
large-scale problems like the 2012 virus
Steckt. Evl spread from Facebook's chat
window. 68% of social media users share
their birth date publicly, 63% share their
high school name, 18% share their phone
number, 12% share a pet's name; each of
those pieces of information is frequently
used for account security verification and
can be used for identity theft.
There are in numerous demerits of social
media starting from psychological
disorders to creation of riots. It is time for
all stakeholders to get together and
establish some Governance.
MISUSES OF SOCIAL MEDIA
UK RIOTS

According to an online CBC News article a
teacher at the University of Toronto's
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education,
Megan Boler, explained that social media
is used as a tool of democracy to take
down corrupt regimes, but not in the case
of the 2011 England riots. British officials
believe that social media, particularly
BlackBerry Messenger, helped to organise
rioters in Britain, but there are experts
who say that such tools are now a fact of
life and simply alternative forms of
communication – whether for good or for
evil. There were reports that the
BlackBerry Messenger service was used by
looters to organise their activities, and
that inflammatory and inaccurate
accounts of Mark Duggan's killing on
social media sites may have incited
disturbances. One of the many messages
shared between users was the following:





"Everyone in edmonton enfield wood green
everywhere in north link up at enfield town
station at 4 o clock sharp!!!!," it began.
"Start leaving ur yards n linking up with your
niggas. Fuck da feds, bring your ballys and
your bags trollys, cars vans, hammers the
lot!!"
Radio 4 criticised Twitter's contribution to
the riots through greed and criminality.
The Daily Telegraph described Twitter as
being an outlet for promoting gang
violence. Evidence shows that Twitter is
powerful because tweets of individuals
were inspired by news content. However,
an article in Time magazine suggested
BlackBerry messenger was more to blame.
Evidence shows that people were
tweeting and re-tweeting news related to
the riots, not original content.
MUZAFFAR NAGAR RIOTS

BJP MLA Sangeet Som was arrested for
alleged involvement in fake video
uploading case depicting Hindu youth
brutally murdered by muslim mob and
making provocative speeches.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh
Yadav blamed social media for fuelling
riots in Muzaffarnagar. The CM demanded
censorship on social media and said there
is still no way to control the medium. He
also said that law and order was
deteriorated because of social media and
mobile phones and emails were used to
send the hate messages. A video shot in
Pakistan, showing two brothers being
killed in the Pakistani city of Sialkot, was
reportedly circulated in Muzzafarnagar. It
was purported to represent the August 27
lynching of two boys by community by a
mob belonging to the other community in
Kawal village of Muzzafarnagar. Several
facebook profiles pages have been
created to incite communal passion.
While some of them are in the names of
individuals, others are with names like
'Bharat ka Kattar Hindu Yoddha' and
'Dharam Yudh Ka Shankhnad'. Images of
violence in Muzaffarnagar on October 30
have been used to instigate people. In one
of the posts, picture of the body of a
woman has been put up with the claim
that she was raped and killed, though the
FIR lodged by the woman's husband does
not mention rape. Another post has
picture of a solider being beaten by some
men. The picture appears to be from
Pakistan but it is being shown as from
Kashmir. There are many such posts, most
of them not possible to describe in print..
Our Governments do not have any
control over the social media. Neither are
there any mechanisms of ensuring
identity of users, nor are there any
systems to regulate inflammatory
content, neither do we have support from
Social Networking Organisations, Nor are
our legal instruments mature enough to
tackle the problems of present day social
networks.
LEGAL ASPECTS: IT ACT 2000
There has been a great deal of
controversy during the last few months





over the questionable use of Section 66A
of the amended Indian Information
Technology Act, 2000. In April this year,
Professor Ambikesh Mahapatra was
arrested under this section for forwarding
caricatures on Trinamool Congress chief
Mamata Banerjee on Facebook. The Ravi
Srinivasan Twitter case showed how on a
complaint, a person’s tweets on reports of
corruption could be brought within the
ambit of the section. In the K V Rao case,
two men, K.V. Rao and Mayank from
Mumbai, were arrested for allegedly
posting offensive comments against some
leaders on their Facebook group. The
most recent case, of course, is that of
Shaheen Dhada who was arrested by the
Palghar police for a rather innocuous
Facebook post. Her friend, Rinu
Srinivasan, was also detained simply for
liking the post. Understandably, there was
considerable outrage from all quarters
over the way in which the cops used
Indian cyberlaw to harass two innocent
citizens. In the last few days, we have
been seen various discussions about
defective IT legislation in India and the
need for changing it.
Section 66A makes it an offence to send,
by means of a computer resource or
communication device, any of the
following information:
1. any information that is grossly
offensive;
2. any information that has menacing
character;
3. any information which you know to be
false but which is sent for purpose of
causing annoyance;
4. any information which you know to be
false but which is sent for purpose of
causing inconvenience;
5. any information which you know to be
false but which is sent for purpose of
causing danger;
6. any information which you know to be
false but which is sent for purpose of
causing obstruction;
7. any information which you know to be
false but which is sent for purpose of
causing insult;
8. any information which you know to be
false but which is sent for purpose of
causing injury;
9. any information which you know to be
false but which is sent for purpose of
causing criminal intimidation;
10. any information which you know to be
false but which is sent for purpose of
causing enmity;
11. any information which you know to be
false but which is sent for purpose of
causing hatred; or
12. any information which you know to be
false but which is sent for purpose of
causing ill will.
All the above as per (3) to (12) must be
done persistently by using a computer
resource or communication device.
13. any e-mail or electronic mail message
for the purpose of causing annoyance;
14. any e-mail or electronic mail message
for the purpose of causing
inconvenience;
15. any electronic mail or electronic mail
message to deceive the addressee or
recipient about the origin of such
messages;





16. any e-mail or electronic mail message
to mislead the addressee or recipient
about the origin of such messages.
So if you are a social media user or even if
you use a computer system or mobile,
beware. You could be brought within the
ambit of Section 66A of the amended
Indian Information Technology Act, 2000.
To help understand the scope of this
section, let’s examine some common
illustrations of acts, which could come
within its ambit.
When you send either by means of a
Computer, Computer System, Computer
Network or using Mobile Phone, Smart
Phone, iPhone, iPad, Tablet, Smart
Devices, Personal Digital Assistants,
BlackBerry or any other communication
devices, the following kind of information,
you could be covered under Section 66A
of the amended Indian Information
Technology Act, 2000:
1. If you swear or abuse somebody, the
swear words could be said to be
grossly offensive. The same could also
be said to be having menacing
character and your act could come
within the ambit of Section 66A(a) of
the amended Indian Information
Technology Act, 2000.
2. Anything defamatory which affects
the character, reputation, standing or
goodwill of a person could also be
deemed to be grossly offensive.
3. Making false allegations against the
character of a person or character
assassination could also qualify as
grossly offensive and having menacing
character.
4. Using insulting words or symbols
which are obscene, could also qualify
as grossly offensive and having
menacing character.
5. Calling someone names could also be
brought within the ambit of being
grossly offensive or having menacing
character.
6. Posting pictures of a person in
uncomplimentary situations and
environments could also be said to be
grossly offensive or having menacing
character. For example, if you
morphed someone’s face on the face
of erotic/nude model’s body, your
action wouldn’t be just obscene, but
would also be grossly offensive and
menacing.
7. Electronic morphing which shows a
person depicted in a bad light could
also be seen as an example of
information being grossly offensive or
having menacing character.
8. Using vernacular bad words in English
alphabets could also qualify as grossly
offensive or having menacing
character.
9. Threatening somebody with
consequences for his life, apart from
being separate offences, could be also
construed as information which is
grossly offensive or menacing.
10. Threatening to expose the ill-deeds of
somebody could also qualify as
menacing.
11. Information containing malicious,
mischievous character assassination
12. Information containing morphed
pictures aimed at hurting religious
sentiments.





13. Information showing deities of
particular religions in an
uncomplimentary light.
14. Putting the picture of a person against
a slogan/phrase/saying which does
not depict his true character or
personality.
15. Deceiving the addressee or recipient
about the origin of such messages. For
example, sending emails from a fake
email account to another person,
could qualify as an offence under
Section 66A.
16. Further, misleading the addressee or
recipient about the origin of such
messages, e.g. sending e-mails and
SMSs in the name of Reserve Bank of
India for big lotteries, could also invite
the provisions of Section 66A.
17. E-mail containing fake recruitment
offers to unsuspected members of the
public, could also qualify as an offence
under Section 66A.
18. The aforesaid are just some
illustrations to demonstrate how
broad Section 66A is, and how it can
impact you. The illustrations are
neither comprehensive nor complete
but have been given as selective
examples of the ambit of Section 66A
for academic, research and review
purposes only.
The language and scope of legal terms
used under Section 66A are very wide and
capable of distinctive varied
interpretations. Seen from another angle,
the section can be effectively used as a
tool for gagging legitimate free online
speech. The problem here is that Section
66A comes with extremely wide
parameters which have not been given
any specific definitions under the law.
These parameters are capable of being
interpreted in any manner possible by the
law-enforcement agencies. As such, while
the section talks about sending any
information that is grossly offensive or
having menacing character, the law does
not give any guidance as to what is grossly
offensive or information having menacing
character. Thus, it is left to the subjective
discretion of the law-enforcement
agencies in this regard. All wide meaning
terms used under Section 66A have not
been defined, which itself provides huge
amount of flexibility in Section 66A to be
used in any circumstances perceivable.
Thus, large portions of legitimate free
online speech could also be brought
within the ambit of the section. Given the
advent of technology and the way people
are misusing the same, there could be
millions of situations which could qualify
as offences under Section 66A.
CONCLUSIONS
Till such time Section 66A is either
changed, modified, varied or amended, it
will be imperative that you exercise due
diligence when you send information on
the Internet, social media and mobile
networks. The focus of the law is not on
publishing information, it is on the offence
of sending information. This assumes
more significance, since whenever you are
on the Internet or when you are sending
e-mail or posting or publishing a blog or
creating an SMS, as you are sending these
electronic records from your computer
system or communication device. Hence,
be very careful before you send





information on electronic platforms and
computer networks.
There are tremendous problems in the
way Section 66A of the amended Indian
Information Technology Act, 2000 has
been drafted. This provision, even though
has been inspired by the noble objectives
of protecting reputations and preventing
misuse of networks, has not been able to
achieve its goals. The language of Section
66A of the amended Indian Information
Technology Act, 2000 goes far beyond the
reasonable restrictions on free speech, as
mandated under Article 19(2) of the
Constitution of India. For India, being the
world’s largest, vibrant democracy,
reasonable restrictions on free speech
need to be very strictly construed.
Section 66A of the amended Indian
Information Technology Act, 2000 has the
potential of prejudicially impacting free
speech in the digital and mobile
ecosystems. Section 66A of the amended
Indian Information Technology Act, 2000
needs to be amended to made the Indian
Cyberlaw in sync with the principles
enshrined in the Constitution of India and
also with the existing realities of social
media and digital platforms today.
Way back in 2000, our law makers were
not able to develop the vision of the
future internet correctly and thus framed
such general and subjective IT ACT. The
present shape of IT Act is not scalable to
be executed seeing the vast population
on the internet, moreover, its highly
subjective nature would only increase the
workload of the judiciary, therefore its
needs to be amended as per the need of
the time.
PROBLEM OF IDENTITY

Anonymity is one of the great gifts of the
Internet, because it allows people to
explore new interests and express
opinions without anyone knowing who
they are. It's protective, it's empowering,
and it's dangerous. For those who have
learned the lessons of life to an extent
that they can understand themselves and
where they fit in the world, anonymity
may not be all that bad, but for teens who
are still figuring it all out, anonymity may
do more bad than good. There are valid
arguments for each side of the debate.

We believe, there should be no difference
in the physical world and the world of
internet. Both the physical and the
internet world should be governed by
policing structures. The Governments and
social networking websites should
together work towards resolving the





problems of identity. Social Networking
accounts should be 1 account per person
based on the national identity. Freedom
of Speech with Anonymity should be
condemned by all countries and on the
other hand, laws should be framed in
ways which grant people liberties to speak
freely on the conditions of identity and
certain limits to free speech.
American Government and Courts have
granted permission for free speech with
anonymity which according to us should
be condemned.
Governments should not entertain or
promote free speech with anonymity.
Also there should be no difference
between the physical and the virtual
world of internet.
PROBLEM OF CONTENT

Before we address the problems of
content on social networking websites, let
us learn about authenticity of information
and what should be the trusted sources of
information.
Each observer has his/her own
perception. The information in social
media is all information based on
perceptions. The scientific methodology
provides us with various mechanisms of
validating information. As per the
scientific methodology, after observation
a philosophical process is conducted
amongst the peers to reach to a
consensus. The consensus of a
philosophical process is a Justified True
Belief. Then this Belief goes through the
process of epistemology where it is
subjected to the conditions of reliability
and repeatability. If the conditions are
satisfied, it gets converted into a scientific
fact. Therefore, it is extremely essential to
trust sources which reduced and validate
information such as journals, Government
Press Releases.
Social Networking Websites are not places
where information available is scientific or
validated. Rather the information
available here is absolute perception or
speculation.
It is time our schools, colleges and
Governments educate the masses on the
trusted sources of information.
REGULATION OF INFLAMATORY
CONTENT
As we have seen information on social
media go viral leading to riots and chaos
in our society, we need to adopt methods
to regulate information.






The Chinese Government has put in place
mechanisms to regulate inflammatory
content on their social networking sites.
They have made huge IT Infrastructures
for reviewing and regulation posts and
content on the internet and this has led to
lot of damage control.
The success story of facebook is based on
its learnings from the failure of Orkut.
Orkut lacked mechanisms of control and
IT Security which led to its downfall.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg
learned from the failure of Orkut and put
in place the following teams for a safer
social networking experience:
1. Abusive Content Team: Responsible
for regulating abusive content
2. Safety Team: Responsible for ensuring
safety of social media users
3. Hate and Harassment Team:
Responsible for regulating hate speech
and harassment complaints.
4. Access Networking: Responsible for
validating identity of individual users.
Regulation of content in collaboration
with the Government is the only key
solution to a safer social networking
experience.
OUR RECOMMENDATIONS
In light of the present time and based on
the inferences of his report, we wish to
put on record the following
recommendations and opinions:
 IT Act needs to be amended as per the
need of the present times.
 Free Speech with Anonymity needs to
be completely discouraged in society
 People need to be educated on
authenticity of information and their
sources.
 Governments need to work in close
conjunction with social networking
companies to develop mechanisms for
regulating content and identity of
users.
 Government needs to put in place
necessary policing mechanisms.
 Government should work with an
intention to finish off the difference
between the physical and the virtual
world and educate the public about
the same.
 Governments should have the control
to shut down these services at times
of riots and wars.






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