Any Law On The Right To Be Forgotten Must Be Balanced
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
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By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2020-11-26 07:50:42
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Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
View all posts by this Author
The Odisha High Court has done a signal service to social media and other internet users by highlighting the absence of a law on the right to be forgotten. This is a contentious issue which has plagued users of social media for long. The European Union and some other countries have passed strict laws to protect the privacy of the individual and all internet companies have to comply with them. But the rest of the world, including India, has done precious little to protect the privacy of citizens.
As one browses the internet, one leaves footprints that are almost impossible to erase. Apart from that, others also upload documents, pictures and information that might not show one in the best of light. One might want not to have such information available to others on the internet, either through search engines or otherwise. But, as of now, one has little choice and almost no say on what material can stay uploaded and what one can get removed since there is no law on the subject.
The Odisha High Court was hearing a case where a man, who had been arrested for posting sexually-explicit content with an ex-lover which he had surreptitiously recorded, was seeking bail. Justice S K Panigrahi denied him bail and said that "if the right to be forgotten is not recognized in matters like the present one, any accused will surreptitiously outrage the modesty of a woman and misuse the same in cyber space unhindered". Justice Panigrahi also made the point that even if consent was given to record the sexual act, it was not for public consumption. He observed that "capturing images and videos with consent of the woman cannot justify the misuse of such consent once the relation between the victim and the accused gets strained as it happened in the present case". He was of the opinion that the victims have the right to be forgotten as a right 'in rem'.
Although the debate about the right to be forgotten has been raging for quite some time now, this the first time a constitutional court has spoken in favour of having a law on the subject. The legislature must pay heed and think about enacting a law on the lines of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe. Any content published on the internet stays forever unless specifically removed from all places where it has been shared or forwarded. It can be searched and found by anyone. Therefore, its power to embarrass, threaten, defame, harm or insult the subject is perpetual. Hence, the right to be forgotten and getting such offensive content removed must be made an integral part of the right to privacy. But care must be taken to ensure that any law enacted on the subject is not misused to curb the right to freedom of speech and expression. The legislature will have to strike a between the right of information and the right to be forgotten.
picture courtesy: electronicsweekly.com
