Facebook row: Officials to review IT Act today

The Cyber Regulation Advisory Committee will be meeting to consider if Section 66A in the Information Technology Act is too draconian.

Zeenews Bureau

New Delhi: Amidst the hullabaloo over recent arrests of people over innocuous posts on social media, officials are meeting here on Thursday to review Section 66A in the Information Technology Act, 2000. According to NDTV, the Cyber Regulation Advisory Committee will be meeting to consider if the controversial section of the Act is too draconian in the age of social media. Section 66A, which was amended in 2008, penalises ‘sending false and offensive messages through communication services’. Of late, the police had used the law to make several arrests. Two Palghar girls -- Shaheen Dhada and Renu Srinivasan -- were arrested after Dhada had lamented in a Facebook post the November 18 shutdown due to Thackeray`s funeral. Shrinivasan had `liked` the post. On Wednesday, police in Palghar questioned a young man for allegedly posting on Facebook objectionable matter against MNS chief Raj Thackeray, official sources said. Section 66A treats sending information by a computer resource or communication device as having committed an offence if the material is "grossly offensive, has menacing character, is sent to cause annoyance, insult and enmity or for criminal intimidation", NDTV report added. The instances have raged the debate over the review of the controversial section of the Act. (With Agency inputs)