Posting abusive comments on social media can land you in jail for 3 years with Rs 1 lakh fine

BENGALURU: Be careful before posting abusive or obscene comments on social media. If you get caught posting bad comments, you won’t get bail for a minimum of six months to one year.

The accused who posted obscene comments about actresses Ramya, Rukmini Vasanth, and Darshan’s wife Vijayalakshmi had been packed off to jail. In Ramya’s case, a few people have only recently got bail while those who posted comments on Darshan’s wife Vijayalakshmi and actress Rukmini Vasanth are still in jail.

Even after going to Sessions Court and High Court, they were not granted bail. Just recently, three accused were caught for posting bad comments about actress Rukmini Vasanth. The reason is these two sections of the IT Act — Sections 66C and 66D of the Information Technology Act (IT Act), which came into effect from July 1, 2024. In all three cases, the IT Act Sections 66C and 66D have been invoked.

IT Act 66C relates to identity theft or misuse of identity information, impersonating someone else to commit fraud, misuse of password, OTP, digital signature, login details; Section 66D deals with cheating by impersonation, cheating people in the name of a fake person or organization, editing actresses’ photos, creating deepfakes, sending obscene messages.

Under these two sections, judges will not grant bail for a minimum of six months to one year. Both sections carry a minimum of three years jail sentence and a fine of Rs 1 lakh. If you are unable to pay the Rs 1 lakh fine, you will have to serve jail time until the fine is paid.