In two separate incidents, eight persons in Uttar Pradesh were arrested over posting "objectionable content" on social networking website Facebook last week. The Times of India reports that seven people were arrested in Bahraich district as one Vipul Singh had posted "objectionable content" and the others had liked and commented on the same. They were arrested following an FIR filed by supporters of the Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) and were booked under the sections 153B, 295A, 504 of the Indian Penal Code. The above sections deal with hate speech in the country as they sought to promote "disharmony or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will between different religious, racial, language or regional groups or castes or communities." The report further states that police would also consider invoking the National Security Act (NSA) would be invoked against people accused of spreading communal tension and added that guidelines had been sought from the state government for invoking NSA in earlier cases. Meanwhile in Sambhal district, the Press Trust of India reports one Navneet Varshney was arrested for sharing "objectionable" post on social networking site Facebook against Samajwadi Party leader Shafiqur Rehman Burq. Again, he was booked under the sections 153 A, 505, and 504 of the IPC which deals with hate speech. It's worth noting that in earlier in March this year, a class 12 student was arrested in Uttar Pradesh for commenting against Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan. The student was booked under Sections 153A , 504 and 505 of the IPC and Secton 66A of the IT…
