Delhi HC says vulgar language on social media needs to be taken seriously

Framing rules and guidelines to regulate the content on social media and OTT platforms needs urgent attention the Delhi High Court has said underlining the need for taking seriously the use of vulgar language in public domain and on social media platforms which are open to children of tender ageComing down heavily on the language used in TVF web series College Romance the high court said the use of obscenities in the form of foul language degrades women so they may feel victims as the expletives and obscenities refer to women being objects of sexThis court is of the opinion that use of vulgar language including profanity and bad words in public domain and in social media platforms which are open to children of tender age needs to be taken seriouslyThe use of obscene words and foul language in social media platforms have to be regulated when it crosses a particular line as it can be a true threat to impressionable minds and cannot receive constitutional protection of free speech Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma said in a 41page judgementThe judge said while in schools offices etc students and workers can be punished for using profane speech the authorities also need to regulate profanity which enters into the domain of indecent speech by a broadcast mediumAlso readFive killed four injured as car ploughs into a group of migrant labourers in Himachal PradeshThe high courts verdict came while upholding an order of the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate ACMM asking the Delhi Police to register an FIR against TVF the shows director Simarpreet Singh and actor Apoorva Arora under the Information Technology ActIt clarified that the direction to register FIR does not include a direction to arrest any of the accused or petitionerThe court said the challenge faced by India as faced by many other countries for enacting appropriate law guidelines and rules to regulate the content on social media and on OTT platforms needs urgent attentionThis court draws the attention of the Ministry of Information and Technology to the situations which are fast emerging on a daily basis and to take steps for enforcing stricter application of its rules qua the intermediaries as notified in Information Technology Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code Rules 2021 and make any laws or rules as deemed appropriate in its wisdom in light of the observations made in this judgment it saidAfter watching a few episodes of the series the court found excessive use of swear words profane language and vulgar expletives were there and the judge had to watch the episodes with the aid of earphones in the chamber as the profanity of language was such that it could not have been heard without shocking or alarming the people around and keeping in mind the decorum of language maintained by a common prudent manMost certainly this court notes that this is not the language that nations youth or otherwise citizens of this country use and this language cannot be called the frequently spoken language used in our country it saidThe court said if the web series using such obscene and abusive words and foul language is allowed to be aired without setting any boundaries it will fail to send message that a certain standard of decency and civility is expected from electronic mediaAs this court has observed the impressionable minds consume what they have been served and they will serve the same on the streets in schools in their houses and all other places resulting in absence of civilized society Societal standards fall if no effort is made to ensure that they are upheld The petty incivilities will certainly lead to declining standard of civility and the fallen language standards will lead to moral depravity it saidJustice Sharma said there is no doubt that the courts cannot do moral policing nor do the courts ever want toThe jurisprudence of judicial restraint however cannot remain separate from the civil social sciences and the orders and judgments in different cases different situations and situations arising for the first time cannot be subject to straight jacket formula and be condemned as moral policing it saidThe court said the use of profanity is also a moral issue and society has to deal with it by its own means tooHowever when the content is shown through social media the sheer enormous power of electronic media and its reach to people of all ages will certainly invite attention of the court law enforcement and law making authorities to regulate it One cannot lean in favour of unrestricted unfettered freedom of profane indecent and obscene speech and expression by way of web series without classification of the same it saidThe court said youth is the most valuable asset of this country who carries on its able shoulders the responsibility of maintaining the magnificence of the valuable culture including the linguistic pride of this nationA web series cannot be allowed to run unhindered taking shade and safety of arguments that no law makes it punishable or some people use such language which has the tendency to corrupt the young minds and project that the young generation speaks such language it saidThe court said the Indian cinema which has now also extended to such web series and other short films at social media and OTT platforms undoubtedly is not the same as was in the old films where the romance between two persons was symbolically shown by showing two birds or flowers meeting on the screenWhen examined in the practical light of common man this court reaches a conclusion that the majority of this country cannot be said to be using such vulgar profane indecent swear words and expletives as projected in the web series in daytoday spoken language even in educational institutionsIt said even if a judgment triggers a debate in the society about an issue at the heart of a societal problem it will serve the ends of justice that is the ultimate goal of a judgeThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed 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