Supreme Court slams TV channels for unregulated hate speech: Check details
In 2017, the Law Commission had submitted a report recommending specific laws. "Hate speech has not been defined in any law in India. However, legal provisions in certain legislations prohibit select forms of speech as an exception to freedom of speech," the commission noted.
FollowThe Supreme Court on Wednesday slammed the TV channels over unregulated hate speeches. The top court also observed that these speeches on mainstream media or social media are unregulated.
"It's (the anchors') duty to see that hate speech doesn't continue the moment someone does. Freedom of press is important... Ours is not as free as the US but we should know where to draw a line," the Supreme Court said.
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"Hate speech is layered... Like killing someone, you can do it in multiple ways, slowly or otherwise. They keep us hooked based on certain convictions," the top court also mentioned.
The Supreme Court also has said "Government should not take an adversarial stand but assist the court. Is this a trivial issue?"
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In 2017, the Law Commission had submitted a report recommending specific laws. "Hate speech has not been defined in any law in India. However, legal provisions in certain legislations prohibit select forms of speech as an exception to freedom of speech," the commission noted. It shared a draft legislation as well, suggesting "insertion of new sections 153C (prohibiting incitement to hatred) and 505A (causing fear, alarm, or provocation of violence in certain cases)".
TV shows, late-evening debates, in particular — often go viral as clips on social media. Internet companies, however, have also been under fire for not doing enough to curb hate speech.
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Earlier this month, Google and Meta, the firms that run YouTube and Facebook, among other platforms, had said they would take fresh steps to combat online extremism "by removing more violent content and promoting media literacy with young users", at a summit in the US on fighting hate-fuelled violence.
