Cyber Crime/Online Fraud

Previously reserved for a select few, the ability to publish is now a right available to everyone with access to the internet and something to say. The world has seen a significant transformation as a result of the advancement of technology. Through numerous social networking sites, the Internet has significantly simplified many tasks for all of us. Everything has been easier for all of us, including communication and information access. However, these resources could occasionally be abused as well. Defamation has emerged as a topic of concern due to the ease with which users can publish and distribute material through these social media platforms. The possibility of "Cyber Defamation" has increased with the popularity of so-called trends such as publishing, uploading, or commenting on information or images on specific social networking sites. The act of publishing a false remark about a person online with the potential to harm or damage their reputation is known as "cyber defamation." Although the publishing industry's influence may have been widely disseminated, not everyone is aware that they are subject to the same regulations and limitations as conventional publishing houses and media companies. When it relates to the risks of defamation, social media platforms, which have been crucial in enabling the average person to write, are not unlike newspapers, periodicals, or books. Defamation is a civil and criminal offence in India, and as a result, the Indian judicial system offers victims of defamation legal recourse. 

LEGISLATION AND CASES

Although this conduct can be committed in both the physical and digital worlds using different mediums, the law of defamation still applies. In India, the following may be held accountable for cyber defamation: 

•  On the creator of offensive content posted online; 

• On the service corporate or a middleman. However, it is important to remember that under Section 79 of the Information Technology Act, 2000, an intermediate is not held accountable if it only serves as a mediator and does not create or change such defamatory content. Additionally, this protection is contingent upon the mediator abiding by the central government's obligations for intermediate due care and intermediate guidelines and removing any unlawful content after receiving notification from the relevant government or its agency.

In India's first case on cyber-defamation, SMC Pneumatics (India) Pvt. Ltd. v. Jogesh Kwatra, in which an angry employee sent profane, disrespectful, and defamatory email messages to the company's affiliates worldwide and to its coworkers with the intent to discredit the company and its managing director, the High Court of Delhi conferred an ex-parte ad interim injunction prohibiting the defendant from disparaging the plaintiff in cyber world. Now, Suhel Seth, a marketing expert and media figure, was recently sued by ITC for his remarks on the Twitter website, which serves as an example. A Bangalore court has been requested to order him to pay the company Rs 200 crore in compensation after the company accused him of defamation. Seth has said he did nothing wrong. 

The fundamental guidelines for publishing are quite straightforward, but adhering to them consistently requires discipline: validate facts, don't offend anyone specifically, and don't misrepresent. According to Sajan Poovayya, general partner at the Bangalore-based law firm, which focuses in online litigation and has customers like Google and the Wikimedia Foundation, the effects of defamation harm for users of social media may be considerably worse than in conventional media. In conventional media, the writer, editors, and publication house share responsibility for defamation, but the author is solely liable in social media. As social media users rise, businesses are creating specialised teams to monitor comments on websites like Facebook and Twitter. These teams also address unfavourable client complaints. Companies frequently refer severe unfavourable remarks to their legal departments. While rules of conduct by businesses and social media sites might be helpful, according to cyber law expert Dugall, users still need to act responsibly. "A law may serve as a warning, but it cannot, in the end, prohibit." 

CONCLUSION

Users of social media cannot use ignorance of Defamation of Character statutes as an excuse. Game guidelines: Check the facts. Avoid distortion. Avoid being disrespectful.  Users of social media will be held accountable, not Facebook or Twitter.  Corporations are monitoring social media platforms, so individuals risk legal issues if they make a mistake. Offenders are subject to fines and up to three years in prison. Some of the criminal penalties are outlined in the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act. The IT Act's Section 6 outlines the penalties for posting or spreading pornographic material online. There is a discussion of up to three years in prison and penalties. If he commits the same offence a second time, he faces a fine and a sentence of up to five years in prison. While there are statutes in place that forbid posting such material online, most people are either unaware of these regulations or are too careless to determine whether the material they are uploading is defamatory. Sometimes it is necessary for the State to set limits on free speech when it conflicts with a person's reputation, lest that freedom of expression ends up in the hands of some people as a weapon. A system that instructs and informs individuals about what is appropriate and inappropriate, wrong and right, and defamatory and non-defamatory behaviour in cyberspace is desperately needed. In order to prevent a repeat in the future, the intermediaries that provide such an open forum should also keep an eye on the content posted there and take necessary action against those who post such defamatory content.

Bullying can be defined as a deliberate act by a culprit that hurts the victim physically or emotionally, even though it may not constitute a criminal offence. Bullies frequently put their victims at their mercy and employ coercion, belittling, or social isolation to accomplish their objectives. Bullying can occur in both open and closed environments. It terrorises the victim and could cause long-term emotional harm. 

When someone is bullied online, whether, through text messenger, virtual social media sites or any internet forums where members can post and send messages, it is referred to as cyberbullying. Bullying is defined as the act of communicating hurtful, inaccurate, or malicious information about another person. Cyberbullying is treated as an offence in criminal law. Cyberbullying, also known as online bullying, differs from traditional bullying in that the victim is unaware of who is bullying them. Bullying has wide-ranging and long-lasting repercussions because it harms the victim's mental health. Cyberbullying has similar long-term effects. Unfortunately, India came in third place in a 2012 Microsoft Corporation assessment of 25 nations on the recorded incidences of internet bullying. Also, the Internet security company McAfee performed research in 2014 that found that "50% of the Indian youth seemed to have some encounter with cyberbullying." This makes it important to understand India’s laws and remedies for cyberbullying. 

ISSUE

Only a few victims report cases of cyberbullying, despite the fact that there are laws in place to punish bullying. The majority would instead remain silent and wait for things to become better on their own. 

There are a few crucial problems that politicians need to take into account if they want to change people's mindsets. For instance, the decision-makers could adopt policies that are kid-friendly and clarify why cyberbullying is harmful to both society and children and other vulnerable sections of society. I believe in-depth conversations on these should be held in conjunction with cybercrime specialists, attorneys, academics, human rights advocates, and educators.

LAWS

Bullying is not specifically outlined under the Indian Penal Code, 1860 ("IPC") nor sanctioned as a crime. To combat cyberbullying, though, there are certain sections of the Indian Penal Code and the IT Act.

NCW describes cyberstalking in its legal module on "Gender Sensitization and Legal Awareness Programme". Slander, defamation, and threats are just a few examples of the numerous types of cyberbullying that can be performed online, through electronic mail, or via other methods of electronic communication. Among other things, cyberstalking includes the following: 

• sending offensive or abusive messages, postings, or remarks; 

• online persona theft with the purpose of spreading fake information to degrade or torment; 

• finding someone's whereabouts through dubious methods; 

• uploading offensive images; 

• Internet harassment by making disparaging comments.

It is made punishable under 354D of IPC. The text of IPC Section 354D makes it apparent that the section punishes both the crime of offline and online stalking sans making any distinctions based on whether or not the harassment took place online. But subsection (2) doesn't make it clear how the victim can be deemed to be "monitored" or "watched" or what activities qualify as such behaviour.

In India, the term "eve-teasing" was frequently used to describe sexual harassment, which minimised the seriousness of the offence. However, a significant shift in how sexual harassment of women is handled has been brought about by the collective forces of the judiciary, the legislative, the Law Commission of India, NGOs, and women's campaigners. With the passage of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal) Act 2013 (the "POSH Act"), it has been made clear that no type of sexual harassment of women in the workplace would be accepted. The Criminal Justice system and bare acts have all undergone significant revisions that make it easier to prosecute sexual harassment.

In order to punish the offence of sexual harassment, Section 354A was added to the IPC with effect from February 3, 2013. According to Section 354A, sexual harassment is an offence that is punishable by 3 years of rigorous imprisonment and/or a fine if it involves physical contact, advances that are unwanted and overtly sexual, demands or requests for sexual favours, showing pornography, or making comments with a sexual connotation.

BULLYING REMEDIES IN SCHOOLS

• Immediately take action to support the victim; 

• Send a complaint to the school's administration detailing the online bullying. According to the "CBSE Guidelines for prevention of Bullying and Ragging in Schools," every school must establish an anti-bullying committee, which will investigate the allegation; 

• Inform your local police station about the online bullying, and they will forward the case to the cybercrime unit for review. The Juvenile Justice Board will then investigate the event and handle it in accordance with the Juvenile Justice Act, 2000 after the cyber-crime cell has reported it.