Liking post on social media platform different from publishing or sharing it: Allahabad HC drops case against man

Merely liking a post will not attract Section 67 of the I.T (Information Technology) Act. The observation was made by Justice Saurabh Srivastava while quashing criminal proceedings against one Imran Khan of Agra.

Lucknow: In a significant ruling, the Allahabad High Court has said that liking a post will not amount to publishing or transmitting the post and therefore, merely liking a post will not attract Section 67 of the I.T (Information Technology) Act.

A single bench comprising Justice Saurabh Srivastava gave this ruling on a petition filed by one Imran Khan recently seeking quashing of the charge sheet, cognizance order, as well as the entire proceedings of Criminal Case under different sections of the IPC , section 67 Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008 and section 7 Criminal Law Amendment Act.

The allegation against the applicant was that he posted certain provocative messages on social media, which resulted in the assembly of about 600-700 persons belonging to the Muslim community for arranging procession without permission, which caused a serious threat to breach of peace.

The court said that from perusal of Section 67 of the I.T. Act, it is clear that it is punishable only when any person publishes or transmits or causes to be published or transmitted in the electronic form any material which tends to deprave and corrupt persons who read, see or hear aforesaid material/message contained or embodied.

‘’From the perusal of the provision mentioned above, it is clear that publishing or transmitting obscene material is an offence. A post or message can be said to be published when it is posted, and a post or message can be said to be transmitted when it is shared or re-tweeted,’’ it added.

‘’In the present case, it is alleged that there is material in the case diary showing that the applicant has liked the post of one Farhan Usman for unlawful assembly, but liking a post will not amount to publishing or transmitting the post, therefore, merely liking a post will not attract Section 67 I.T. Act,’’ the court said further while allowing the petition.