Liability of WhatsApp Group Admin: Current position in India
Introduction The outreach of social media messaging is increasing exponentially and so are the potential legal ramifications of any imprudent remarks made through such platforms. Recently, a YouTuber from Ludhiana in Punjab was arrested1 for alleged objectionable racial remarks against an MLA (and former cabinet minister) from Arunachal Pradesh. The YouTuber has been booked under sections 124A (sedition), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc), 505(2) (Statements conducing to public mischief) of the IPC in Itanagar (Arunachal Pradesh). Without going into the merits of this specific case and other similar cases (involving Twitter or Facebook as the messaging platform) or the constitutional validity of application of sedition law in such cases or the extent of restrictions on free speech under…