A critic of government expressing through social media is different from a social media bully, observed A.P. High Court

A Division Bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court (HC) comprising Chief Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur and Ravi Cheemalapati had, in a recent order of dismissal of a PIL filed by journalist and former RTI Commissioner Pola Vijaya Babu against the alleged indiscriminate arrest of social media activists, emphasised that there was a distinction between a critic of the government who expresses himself or herself on the social media and a social media bully who maligns the character of a person or his/her family members by making abusive comments and spreading false information.

“Social media platforms may also be used to spread hatred amongst communities to bring about social unrest. The toxicity of such comments has a devastating effect on the law-abiding citizens, who suffer such targeted attacks as a well organised strategy,” the Judges observed while imposing a cost of ₹50,000 on the petitioner to be deposited with the State Legal Services Authority. 

Mr. Vijaya Babu prayed to the court to restrain the police from arresting ‘social media activists’ especially ‘those who are not aligned to the ecosystem of the present ruling party’, which was turned down by the Judges, who opined that the petition had been filed to espouse the cause not of persons who are downtrodden, or belong to an economically weaker section of the society, who are incapable of approaching the courts for protecting their rights or challenging the action of the State, rather, the cause of a community of the so-called social media activists, who cannot, by any stretch of imagination, be said to be either marginalised or suffer an economic handicap, and cannot take resort to the remedies which are otherwise available to them in law. 

The Judges mentioned that the petition was misconceived and appeared to be filed with political motives and asserted that the social media platforms do not give any immunity to persons from whatever they say which otherwise constitutes an offence in law and such elements needed to be dealt with in accordance with the law especially those who are available as ‘guns for hire’.

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