The two young women who were arrested for their Facebook activity last week have found an unlikely champion for their cause: another young woman, Shreya Singhal, who filed public interest litigation with the Supreme Court to challenge one of the controversial laws used to justify the arrests.
That litigation was heard by the Supreme Court on Friday, which then ordered the central and some state governments to respond within six weeks. Ms. Singhal, who is a recent astrophysics graduate and plans to apply to law school, questioned the constitutionality of Section 66A. The dreary sounding, but much-talked about law criminalizes information sent online that can be considered “offensive.”
Although not many have petitioned the Supreme Court like the 21-year-old Ms. Singhal, thousands of social media users, civil society groups, lawyers and activists have protested Section 66A and the Internet laws in recent weeks. If readers believe the laws are muzzling online free speech, here are some ways experts offer to keep up the pressure to scrap the law: