RIGHT TO SPEECH & EXPRESSION AND THE POLITICS OF HATE SPEECH - (Blog)


“To ask the value of speech is like asking the value of life,”- Alexander Graham Bell.

The ability to express one’s opinions, feelings and ideas is clearly a fundamental right as it obliges one to attain self-contentment and allows one to enjoy freedom to the utmost level. It is important to note that the freedom of speech conflicts with several other rights leading to some restrictions in the current laws. The controversies about free speech evoked long ago in India amidst the Hindu-Muslim disturbances during the British rule. Hence, the Section 295A of the IPC, which restrains the deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings, was imposed in 1929. Article 19(1) of the Indian constitution validates the right to freedom of speech and expression.

One of the most significant and impactful cases being the Romesh Thappar vs the Union of India (1950 AIR 124) in 1950. Romesh Thappar, being a communist, criticized the policies of Nehru via his journal “Cross Road” which led to the ban of the entry and circulation of his journal in Madras by the government.

The ambiguous nature of free speech and the above imposed restrictions lead to several controversies, hate speech being one of the highly debated issues in the court as well as in the public. It must be stressed that hate speech isn’t legally defined in India. Instead there are certain legislations that prohibit select forms of speech as an exception to the freedom of speech. The most significant one is the Indian Penal Code under the sections- 124A, 153A, 153B, 295A, 298, 505 which penalize the words (spoken or written) that promote or provoke enmity, hatred, imputations or ill-will among different classes of people on the grounds of religion, race, language by creating a public mischief. In addition to these laws, the Representation of The People Act(1951), the Protection of Civil Rights Act(1955), the Religious Institutions Act(1988), the Cable Television Network Regulation Act(1995), the Cinematography Act(1952), the Code of Criminal Procedure(1973) restrict the freedom of speech in critical conditions. The above-mentioned laws do not directly deal with hate speech but they stand as reasonable restrictions under the article 19(2).

 The major dilemma arises while defining the area of freedom of expression when it conflicts with the various social interests specified under article 19(2). Hence, it is difficult to define hate speech in the laws as any ambiguity in the definition may lead to the intrusion of freedom of speech. But it is important to note that the impairments caused by hate speech have a far-reaching impacts and extremely dangerous consequences. There is no chance for repairing the damage that hate speech does to the society at large.

The issue of hate speech has obtained greater significance in the internet era as the congenial nature of internet allows offensive speeches to affect a larger audience in a very short span of time. In the age of technology, the anonymity of internet allows a convict to easily spread false and offensive ideas. These ideas need not always incite violence but they might bolster the discriminatory attitudes prevalent in the society. There are a growing number of cases where a person is targeted offensively in several social media platforms. The most bizarre after effect is that hate speech affects brain processes.

The effective and judicious implementation of laws is a challenge that cannot be overcome easily. It has been said that this growth is certainly not because the law is lax rather the law has not been properly conveyed to the fellow citizens. The intensity of hate speech can be contracted by adopting the method of counter speech which is a direct response to hate speech as it seeks to undermine the impact. It can also succeed by having an impact on the audience – either by communicating that make dangerous speech socially unacceptable or by ‘inoculating’ the audience against the speech so they are less easily influenced by it. Considering the damage that hate speech causes to the society at large and its implications on fellow people, it is the need of the hour to find a proper solution for the growing hate speech cases in our country.

REFERENCES :       

http://www.legalserviceindia.com/legal/article-1056-hate-speech-in-india.html

https://www.legallyindia.com/views/entry/reviewing-the-law-commission-s-latest-hate-speech-recommendations

https://www.indialawoffices.com/legal-articles/section-295a-aalysis

https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blink/know/the-house-is-in-cession/article9926186.ece

http://lawcommissionofindia.nic.in/reports/Report267.pdf

https://indiankanoon.org/doc/456839/

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/no-hate-speech-to-ones-affected-by-coronavirus-twitter-broadens-ban-on-dehumanising-comments/articleshow/74510800.cms

https://devgan.in/ipc/section/505/

-R. Ramya
School of Excellence in Law.

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