Welcoming the Supreme Court's decision to quash Section 66A of the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000, on Tuesday, Communications and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said people in power should be tolerant and liberal towards criticism.
"We welcome this decision by the Supreme Court. The government is committed to free speech. India is a democratic country and free flow of ideas should be respected. We do not seek to curtail any right," Prasad told reporters in a press meet in New Delhi.
The minister, however, said it was important to have self-regulation as well when expressing thoughts in social media."There are lakhs of people in India indulging in social media. I am a supporter of self-regulation and would like to say it is important to have self-regulation," he said.
He said social media platforms should also practise some 'self-restraint'.
Earlier in the day, he said the government did not favour gagging dissent or honest criticism on social media.
Prasad said: "We respect communication of ideas on social media, not in favour of curtailing honest criticism, dissent on social media."Earlier, the Supreme Court ruled that Section 66A violates Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution which guarantees freedom of speech.
No comments:
Post a Comment