It will come as a surprise to many, but it is illegal to share indecent photos in a WhatsApp group. Whoever shares indecent photos in a WhatsApp group can be prosecuted under section 67 and 67A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, whose reproduction is stated below for the sake of convenience-
Section 67- Punishment for publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form.–
Whoever publishes or transmits or causes to be published or transmitted in the electronic form, any material which is lascivious or appeals to the prurient interest or if its effect is such as to tend to deprave and corrupt persons who are likely, having regard to all relevant circumstances, to read, see or hear the matter contained or embodied in it, shall be punished on first conviction with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years and with fine which may extend to five lakh rupees and in the event of second or subsequent conviction with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years and also with fine which may extend to ten lakh rupees.[1]
Section 67A- Punishment for publishing or transmitting of material containing sexually explicit act, etc., in electronic form.–
Whoever publishes or transmits or causes to be published or transmitted in the electronic form any material which contains sexually explicit act or conduct shall be punished on first conviction with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years and with fine which may extend to ten lakh rupees and in the event of second or subsequent conviction with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years and also with fine which may extend to ten lakh rupees.[2]
The gist of the above-stated sections is that whoever publishes or transmits or causes the same in electronic form any material which is lascivious, a sexual act or which may corrupt persons shall be punishable offence with imprisonment and also with fine. In this context, the word lascivious means instigating lust, vulgar, or lewd content. In the same line, section 67B of the Information Technology Act, 2000 prohibits transmission of Child abuse and child pornography. In the standpoint of the above-stated matter whosoever shares such photos in a WhatsApp Group which is lascivious, sexual act or which may corrupt persons would entail punishment laid down under section 67 and 67A of The Information Technology Act, 2000. Further punishment can also be imposed under section 354 dealing with outraging the modesty of a woman, 354C dealing with voyeurism and 292A dealing with putting into circulation a grossly indecent or scurrilous picture of Indian Penal Code, 1860.
In the last few years, many arrests has been affected to curb the said behaviour across the county. Hence we should exercise the same ethics in online life which we exercise in our offline life.
What do I do when indecent pictures appear in a group that I am a part of?
In such an unfortunate situation, irrespective of the fact whether you are admin of the group or not, you should instantly raise an objection to the content and warn the admin and the group members to delete the message and remove the sender. In the scenario of turning a blind eye and remaining a mute spectator to the incident will only make you a partner in the crime. In case no action is taken against the content, one should delete the chat and leave the group and according to seriousness of the content, the same can be reported to WhatsApp, police or cyber cell. In addition to the penalty given under The Information Technology Act, 2000, there are stringent WhatsApp terms of service which states- You must access and use our Services only for legal, authorized, and acceptable purposes. You will not use (or assist others in using) our Services in ways that: (a) violate, misappropriate, or infringe the rights of WhatsApp, our users, or others, including privacy, publicity, intellectual property, or other proprietary rights; (b) are illegal, obscene, defamatory, threatening, intimidating, harassing, hateful, racially, or ethnically offensive, or instigate or encourage conduct that would be illegal, or otherwise inappropriate, including promoting violent crimes; (c) involve publishing falsehoods, misrepresentations, or misleading statements; (d) impersonate someone; (e) involve sending illegal or impermissible communications such as bulk messaging, auto-messaging, auto-dialing, and the like; or (f) involve any non-personal use of our Services unless otherwise authorized by us.[3] In case a user is reported, the same will be investigated by WhatsApp and if the allegation is found to be genuine, the user’s account will be deleted without any notice and will be prevented for making an account on WhatsApp in future, therefore we should exercise due caution in transmission of data since it can attract the wrath of law in case of non observance of same.
[1] Section 67 of THE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ACT, 2000
[2] Section 67A of THE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ACT, 2000
[3] WhatsApp Terms of service, https://www.whatsapp.com/legal/#terms-of-service, Accessed on 17/04/2019
This article is authored by Devashish Tiwari, student of BBA LLB at JIMS, School Of Law.
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