Internet can be justifiably portrayed as a ‘double edged sword’. Though the fast networking and computing has brought serious threats to users, the inconspicuous fact is that living without any means of cyber space is out of question. Terms such as cyber bullying, trolling, cyber stalking and online roasting has become so common in our society that internet users started considering it as an ordinary and indispensable part of cyberspace.  This article would be an earnest approach towards analysing cyber bullying and roasting from a legal perspective. This brief documentation would also focus on providing an outline of the existing legal provisions and precedents in this field. Further, the author would suggest certain modifications in the legal framework as well as in our practical lives for a better tomorrow.

 Introduction

Cyber bullying can be defined as harassing, intimidating or humiliating a person with the help of electronic means. As far as bullying is concerned, we cannot possibly limit the meaning of this term to a few aspects. Cyber bullying could thus encompass many inherent issues like cyber stalking, trolling, trickery, impersonation and intentional exclusion. Roasting is a new trend prevalent in social media. Roasting was introduced as a type of humour in which an individual is subjected to jokes and pun to amuse the larger audience. Initially, the roasting culture was among close friends and family. However, present day roasting is an entirely different scenario.

It is indeed necessary to explore the background and history of ‘roasting’. All India Bakchod (AIB) Knockout was one of the well-known controversies related to celebrity roasting. Show involved a few renowned Bollywood celebrities. However, show was taken out of the YouTube channel due to widespread criticism from legal activists, celebrities and other spectators. Recently, there were issues raised against a person alleged to have roasted a few people who were active in TikTok (a social networking and entertainment platform).

The legal framework that regulates ‘roasting’ and similar activities has time and again been analysed. The key legislations to be focussed in this regard are the Indian Penal Code, Information Technology Act and the Constitution of India.

Existing Legal Structure Related to Cyber Bullying in India

Closely related provisions of Information Technology Act, 2000 are:

·         Section 67A specifies punishment for publishing or transmitting any material containing sexually explicit act in the electronic form.

·         Section 66E deals with punishment for violation of privacy of an individual intentionally or knowingly by capturing, publishing or transmitting the image of a private area of that person without his or her consent.

It is clear from the above mentioned sections that we cannot rely on them for all cases with regard to cyber bullying. In other words, there is no clear-cut or specific law to deal with cyber bullying and related issues like online roasting. This is the reason why we generally depend on Indian Penal Code, 1860 under such circumstances.

Provisions of Indian Penal Code, 1860 that are largely depended on under similar situations:

·         Section 499: Defamation

·         Section 354A: Offence of making sexually coloured comments or sexual harassment. Involves matters like seeking undesirable sexual favours from a woman.

·         Section 354D: Stalking, striding behind or purposefully following a woman. Monitoring a woman’s personal information through electronic means also come under the purview of this section.

·         Section 292A: Involves printing of books etc. of indecent or scurrilous matters intended to blackmail a person.

·         Section 509: Comprises of issues like uttering words intended to insult the modesty of a lady.

·         Section 507: Criminal intimidation by concealing identity (anonymous blackmailing).

The need for a specific legal schema with regard to “cyber bullying” is thus established. It could ease the whole procedure and no doubt, reduce the occurrence of such incidents to a large extent.

Analysis based on the Indian Constitution

The right to freedom of speech and expression enshrined under Article 19(1) (a) need to be critically analysed in every such situation.  The right allows citizens to think and speak without bounds. At the same time, reasonable restrictions to this right are provided under Article 19(2). It was held in A.K.Gopalan v. The State of Madras[1] that, “man as a rational being, desires to do many things, but in a civil society his desires have to be controlled, regulated and reconciled with the exercise of similar desires”.

In Ranjit D. Udeshi v. State Of Maharashtra[2], the constitutional validity of Section 292 of the Indian Penal Code was challenged. The facts of the case involve the alleged sale of obscene books by the accused. It was questioned based on Article 19 of the Indian Constitution, stating that section creates an unreasonable restriction on freedom of speech and expression. The Hon’ble court confirmed the validity of section 292 IPC in this case. Therefore, it is fair enough to say that the right to express thoughts can be restricted for the benefit of a larger population. Moreover, the larger public interest prevails when compared to individual rights.

The freedom of speech can be curtailed under various grounds such as public order, morality, defamation, decency etc. Henceforth, the act of roasting may also fall under one or more of the above mentioned categories of restrictions. When an individual is roasted in front of family members or close acquaintances, the impact created is very meagre. On the other hand, the effect is huge when the same act is performed in social media. Size of the audience is much larger and it can disturb public order if the content being spoken or published happens to be immoral. Apart from personal defamation, such activities have a wider impact on the society at large.

Conclusion

Adherence to the policies and community standards as provided by social media sites is of immense significance. For instance video sharing platforms like YouTube provides plethora of guidelines to the users. Smart and rational usage can eliminate problems to a large extent. However, a secondary level augmentation can be made by addition of a better filtering mechanism using factors like consent and age of the users.

Information Technology Act combined with certain other legal provisions like Indian Penal Code is perhaps the only available method to deal with issues like roasting and cyber bullying in online media. The verdicts in such cases would be different if there is a ‘definite legislation’ to address the offence of cyber bullying.  Also, various branches of cyber bullying cannot even be addressed within the purview of the existing laws. All these points add to the need of a specific law in this area.