Following the incident where two Maharashtra girls were arrested for posting a Facebook update by the local police and charged under section 66A of the IT Act, there's increasing pressure on the government, to check misuse of the IT Act and the ministry of IT has also said that it's collecting information on cases where the act has been allegedly misused, and intends to decide on making changes to the Act after holding consultation with stake holders. What started as an outcry by a few voices against the IT Rules, has now turned into a campaign challenging the constitutional validity of the Act itself. While the Palghar incident was not the first one where the draconian provision of the Act was applied, it was the first time that the government acknowledged that the Act was being misused, and was even stifling the right to freedom of expression guaranteed by the Indian constitution, as the Facebook update posted by the girl was just her personal opinion. This was also the first time that it did not involve someone who was part of the government, unlike previously highlighted cases - one, where Puducherry businessman-cum-India Against Corruption volunteer, Ravi Srinivasan was booked for a tweet against Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram’s son Karti Chidambaram, and the other where a Jadavpur University chemistry professor was arrested for circulating a picture spoof on Trinamool Congress boss Mamata Banerjee and railway minister Mukul Roy. There's also a common phenomenon in all these cases: the Police has not hesitated from…
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