Kriti Agrawal –
The Madhya Pradesh High Court issued a notice in response to a petition stating that social media companies such as WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are displaying/hosting obscene, unregulated, uncertified, sexually explicit, and legally forbidden content.
Maatr Foundation, through Advocate Amay Bajaj, has filed a complaint alleging that the above-mentioned social media corporations facilitate online gambling, online prostitution, online hate crimes, online economic frauds, and other criminal acts.
The Bench chaired by Chief Justice Mohammad Rafiq and Justice Vijay Kumar Shukla ordered the Registry to add the correct names of the social media corporations to the list of parties and to record the petitioners’ documents.
The complaint claims that these platforms are breaking various Indian laws relating to women, children, contract, e-commerce, intellectual property rights, betting, terrorism, hatred, and other offences because there is no regulatory authority, guidelines, or special laws in place to control such acts in India.
According to the plea, these platforms not only objectify women, but also fill their brains with lascivious thoughts, infringing on their fundamental right to live in dignity.
Furthermore, it has been claimed that the corporations are violating consumers’ privacy by selling their personal data and other sensitive information to their subsidiary companies and on the open market.
In related news, Dr Seema Singh, Meghan, and Vikram Singh have filed a petition with the Supreme Court, requesting that the Central Government require WhatsApp to either roll back the new privacy policy or create a way for users to opt-out.
Previously, WhatsApp informed the Court that users could simply quit using the service if they didn’t agree with the policy and that there was no need for an opt-out option.
The government claims that the policy is in violation of the Information Technology Rules of 2011and that WhatsApp may be barred from implementing the new policy until the validity of the policy is determined