MediaNama’s Take: Recently, the Telangana state government announced its plans to direct the state police officials to maintain a “history sheet” of “habitual social media offenders”, classifying them alongside the cyber-criminals, in order to monitor their activities. This move is a clear overextension of state surveillance on its citizens, as the police are allowed to surveil even if they are not convicted or yet to be convicted. It can create an environment of constant monitoring, where citizens could face disproportionate scrutiny based on their opinions expressed on online platforms.
One of the instances where the broad and vague legal terms are being misused is how the term “public mischief” has been weaponised to target dissenters, as seen in cases like the Dr Medusa incident and the recent Ashoka University professor case. These vague accusations often lead to severe consequences, including reputational and career damage, without any solid legal basis for prosecution.
Moreover, history sheets, which track individuals’ past actions, can lead to and reinforce existing biases, particularly against certain communities, which can further complicate the police and judicial procedure. So, if the government wants to justify its surveillance-based “history sheet” record-keeping as necessary measures to curb the crime rate, then the real constitutional challenge that lies in the face of the state is the citizen’s fundamental right to express political views, especially through social media platforms, and growing state surveillance over online activity is also at risk of becoming a tool for political censorship.
What’s the news?
The Telangana state government is planning to open a history sheet against “habitual social media offenders” by clubbing them with the cyber criminals, according to the internal communication of the Telangana Cyber Security Bureau, as reported by the Hindu.
A history sheet is a police record that tracks an individual’s criminal history, including arrests, charges, and convictions, to monitor past and potential future criminal behaviour. The practice of maintaining history sheets dates back to 1934. This initiative by the Telangana government aims to curb repeat cybercrime activities and to enhance its monitoring system on criminals, or potential criminals, in Hyderabad city.
Whom does this scheme monitor?
This “suspect list” includes individuals involved in cybercrimes, even if courts have not convicted them. This includes “social media offenders”, criminal gangs, organised criminal syndicates, and individuals addicted to crimes. This latest directive enables the authorities to surveil their activities and “manage” them.
The news report also mentions that officials got a hands-on training session in April 2025 on how to investigate social media-related cases.
How the State is Weaponising the ‘Public Mischief’ Provision?
The government’s…
Source link
Disclaimer
We strive to uphold the highest ethical standards in all of our reporting and coverage. We blogs.grocliq.com want to be transparent with our readers about any potential conflicts of interest that may arise in our work. It’s possible that some of the investors we feature may have connections to other businesses, including competitors or companies we write about. However, we want to assure our readers that this will not have any impact on the integrity or impartiality of our reporting. We are committed to delivering accurate, unbiased news and information to our audience, and we will continue to uphold our ethics and principles in all of our work. Thank you for your trust and support.
Website Upgradation is going on for any glitch kindly connect at [email protected]
