Thiruvananthapuram: Offensive posts on social media will now carry a five-year sentence in Kerala. Governor Arif Mohammad Khan on Saturday gave his approval to the Kerala Police Act Amendment Bill brought by the Kerala government. After which now the state police has got the right to take direct action against such posters. Opposition has attacked the government over this.
All parties, including the Congress and the BJP, are calling the law an attack on media freedom. The government is calling it a law brought for the protection of women and expression.
This bill is a sham
Kerala BJP president K. Attacking the Chief Minister, Surendran said, “When the Supreme Court took a stand against such a law in 2015, the CM praised it and made it a political campaign. Now he is trying to control social and mainstream media by bringing this Dracon Act. This law is a sham to prevent violence against women.
Chidambaram said I am stunned to hear
Senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram has attacked the Left and the Kerala government over this law. He said, “I am stunned to be sentenced to 5 years by the LDF government of Kerala for making ‘so-called objectionable posts on social media’. Mr. Ramesh Chennithala, I am also shocked by the attempt to implicate the LOP, in a case where the investigating agency had filed a closure report four times. “
With this, Chidambaram has attacked Sitaram Yechury. He tweeted, “How will my friend Sitaram Yechury, General Secretary, CPI (M), defend these oppressive decisions?”
Seeing the dispute escalating, the government gave an explanation
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has given his explanation regarding the opposition’s attack on the amendment. He said, “The new amendment to the Kerala Police Act will not be used in any way against free speech or impartial media activity. Anyone is free to make any kind of harsh criticism within the limits of the Constitution and the legal system. “
“Apart from the freedom of the media, the government has a responsibility to protect the personal freedom and dignity provided by the constitution,” he said.
What is Bill
Indeed last month the state cabinet amended the law to add new section 118-A and give more power to the police. According to the amendment, if a person deliberately posts or broadcasts objectionable material on social media to intimidate and insult and defame a person, he is liable to imprisonment for up to five years or a fine of up to ten thousand rupees or both. Can be punished.
