JOIN USThe Supreme Court did well to issue a directive to state police chiefs not to take action against citizens for their posts on social media on matters related to the Covid-19 pandemic. It has told them that it should not proceed against people who complain about "shortage of beds, oxygen shortage, conditions of Covid care centres and hospitals etc during the pandemic’’. The court issued the order obviously in response to the warning issued by UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath that those who spread "disinformation’’ and "rumours’’ about the Covid situation would be hauled up under the National Security Act (NSA) and their property would be seized. The police in the state have actually taken action accordingly and registered cases. Similar actions have been taken by the police in some other states too. The court warned that such actions would be considered contempt of court.
In the first place, the order upholds the fundamental right to freedom of expression of citizens. Secondly, it underlines the fact that this freedom has a special significance and is more important in times of distress of individuals and of society. Citizens’ rights are not adornments in good times but instruments and even weapons in difficult times. Free dissemination of information is an important tool to deal with social calamities like famines and pandemics. The court recalled that free dissemination of information had helped to contain the famine in 1970. Social scientists have always highlighted the need for free flow of data in crisis situations. Governments have a tendency to hide facts in order to show that situations are not bad and to make out that they are being handled well. This is counter-productive, and to prevent people from sharing their experiences and expressing their views is much worse.
In UP, the police lodged a case against a young man, who had appealed on Twitter for an oxygen cylinder for his ailing grandfather, for spreading "false information’’. There are many messages on social media asking for blood, oxygen etc, and many people have benefitted from posting such messages. To punish people for such messages is certainly wrong. They actually help the government to get a clear view of the situation and to keep the officials to their on their toes, reminding them of their responsibilities to the public. Governments can better understand the shortcomings of their policies and decisions if the people freely air their views and grievances. A petition before the Allahabad High Court said that "filing criminal cases against families of critical patients issuing SOS calls is a gross misuse of the powers… to present a fake picture that everything is hunky dory in the state’’. The Supreme Court’s stiff warning is therefore welcome.