A few states have been very active in throttling displays of dissent on the social media, particularly if there were derogatory references to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The proliferation of social media users and the Internet’s several other avenues for expressing personal opinion have led to governments taking notice of what it believes is subversive activity. While no one would wish the country’s leader to become a subject of ridicule or a figure of hate, the state should understand that the social media is primarily a place in which people tend to vent their feelings.
The establishing of some control over disparaging assaults on public figures and private individuals should not lead to a repression of the freedom of expression. There has been little concerted effort towards formulating a procedure by which the offending post can be voluntarily taken down, failing which a clearly defined course of action can be set in motion to make the person comply if indeed the post is disruptive, capable of spreading disaffection, or defamatory under the law.
The larger issue is should dissenting opinion expressed only against politicians or their lampooning draw such a lightning response from the executive and judiciary to the extent that even college students have been booked for defaming the PM in their campus magazines. While the anxiety of a new government to get a handle on this before it explodes is understandable, it is important to understand that there is room for opinion in a democratic set-up. Not everyone putting up an irreverent post is to be deemed anti-national.
