A
Review On Constitutional Safeguards Against Cybercrime Targeting Women
Vaishali Sahu1*, Dr. Shradha Pandey2
1
Research Scholar, Shri Rawatpura Sarkar University, Raipur, Chattisgarh,
India
sahuvaishali123@gmail.com
2 Associate
Professor & Dean, Faculty of Law, Shri Rawatpura Sarkar University, Raipur,
Chattisgarh, India
Abstract:
The increasing dependence on digital
platforms and information technologies has led to the emergence of cybercrimes
that disproportionately target women. As India advances technologically,
incidents of online abuse, harassment, privacy invasion, and digital
exploitation of women have risen sharply. The Indian Constitution, through its
provisions and judicial interpretations, offers various safeguards aimed at
protecting women’s dignity, privacy, and freedom in cyberspace. This review
explores the constitutional and legal frameworks governing cybercrimes against
women, including key provisions under Articles 14, 19, and 21, and landmark
judgments such as Shreya Singhal
v. Union of India. It also highlights the growing significance of
the right to privacy & freedom of expression in the digital age. The study
emphasizes the urgent need for stronger enforcement mechanisms, judicial
vigilance, and public awareness to ensure that cyberspace remains a secure and
equitable platform for women. By examining constitutional guarantees,
legislative measures, and judicial perspectives, this paper seeks to underline
the importance of upholding women’s rights and human dignity in the evolving
digital environment.
Keywords:
Women, Rights, Human Dignity, Provisions, Indian Constitution.
INTRODUCTION
Many
criminals take use of the instantaneous, real-time nature of computers to carry
out a wide variety of illegal acts, some of which might have devastating
consequences. With the constant development of new technologies, new forms of
cybercrime have emerged. As much as new technology is improving people's lives
and making some tasks easier and more efficient, it is also opening the door
for criminals to commit crimes that may hurt individuals, groups, communities,
or even nations. The annual net loss for every nation is thousands of dollars,
according to the global economic crime report. Although India's recorded crime
rate is far lower at 3% than the United States' 23%, the nation is still
developing and, as a result, more crimes are occurring there due to rising
levels of both technology and user awareness. Without prompt and stringent
action, India would similarly see a large proportion of cybercrime in a short
amount of time. Statistics show that more cases are filed under the IT Act than
the IPC in India. I think it's safe to say that the crime rate is rising at an
alarming pace with the development of new technologies. India has to design
stricter rules and regulations to rein in these occurrences. The majority of
these instances involve invasions of privacy or other forms of individual
freedom. The government must take decisive action to combat these crimes and
should strive to establish a precise definition of online and offline privacy
infringement. The following table shows the study's findings about the total
number of cases lodged under the IT Act and the IPC in India. [1]
WOMEN'S RIGHTS AND THE
INDIAN CONSTITUTION
The
society subjected her to mental and physical anguish. Finding her position in
society and her social standing were also challenges she was facing. Laws
protecting Indian women from psychological and physical abuse were urgently
needed at that era so that they might rise in the social hierarchy. We can see
a dramatic shift in the status and perception of Indian women today because Dr.
B. R. Ambedkar, the writer of our Indian constitution, made some positive and
necessary moves at that time to empower Indian women and give them more agency
in society. Indian women have achieved a position of dignity as a result of the
dramatic changes brought about by our constitution and their own efforts. [2]
In
addition to guaranteeing women's equality, India's constitution gives the
government the authority to eradicate discrimination against women and their
rights, which in turn helps to alleviate the social, economic, educational, and
political disadvantages that women in India endure. In addition to guaranteeing
equal treatment under the law & equal protection under the law, fundamental
rights also prohibit discrimination based on place of birth & provide,
race, sex, caste or religion that all people have equal opportunity in job
concerns.
According
to Article 39(a), the state must ensure that all citizens, regardless of
gender, have access to sufficient means of subsistence.
·
In India,
men and women are guaranteed equal pay for equal work under Article 39 (d).
·
The state
has a responsibility to safeguard the well-being of female workers and to
ensure that they are not economically pressured into jobs that are not a
suitable match for their talents, as stated in Article 39(e).
·
It is the
responsibility of the state to ensure that its citizens have access to
maternity leave and safe and humane working conditions.
[3]
Legal Rights to Women:
1.
The right to be anonymous.
2.
The right to be free from workplace
harassment.
3.
The prohibition of domestic abuse.
4.
The right to decent treatment.
CYBERCRIME
AGAINST WOMEN: A HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATION
In
order to encourage public engagement and discourse, accountability, human
development, sustainable development, & the enjoyment of all other rights,
the United Nations has advocated for the premise that speech is vital. A free &
democratic society cannot exist without the right to free speech. [4]
The protection of human rights & promotion
rely heavily on the freedom of speech, which is the bedrock of openness,
accountability, and transparency in a democratic society. In addition to
protecting individual liberty and variety, it is an effective means of
preserving the other basic rights. Both online and offline forms of media have
revolutionized modern discourse by giving more people a platform to share their
stories, expanding people's access to information, and encouraging them to get
involved on a global scale.
While the internet has opened up many new
possibilities, it has also opened up new ways that women and girls may be
violently attacked. Gender-based abuse, or cyber-violence, is on the rise and
affects people all around the world, regardless of their socioeconomic status
or cultural background. Not only does it put people's lives and dignity at
risk, but it also runs counter to the UN Charter's stated aims of promoting
world peace, equality, or sustainable development. [5] All people, regardless
of gender, color, or nationality, have the same fundamental human rights, which
include the freedom from torture and discrimination as well as the rights to
life, liberty, dignity, and education, as stated by the United Nations. There
is a grave danger to gender equality as well as human rights on a global scale
when women experience cyber-violence or harassment, which violates their basic
rights to live in dignity, to be free from abuse, and to have good physical and
mental health. [6]
SOCIAL
MEDIA AND THE RIGHT TO FREE EXPRESSION ARTICLE 19(1) (A)
The Internet and social media have evolved
into potent mediums in the contemporary digital age, allowing individuals to
openly communicate, disseminate information, and brainstorm ideas without
limitations. In recent years, these virtual communities have been pivotal in
worldwide campaigns for human rights, equality, transparency, and justice.
These platforms have made it easier for people to connect with one another and
question established power structures, which in turn has empowered them to
demand change. A fundamental human right, according to the Special Rapporteur
of U.N on the promotion & protection of the right to freedom of speech and
opinion, is access to the Internet. Internet users' ability to freely express
themselves is emphasized by this recognition of the medium's significance. It
is imperative that states maintain reliable internet connections and provide
affordable access for all citizens, irrespective of political unrest.
Article 19(2) of the Indian Constitution
makes it clear that "reasonable restrictions" are in place to protect
the country's security, public order, and territorial integrity, therefore
limiting this right. Although the government has the primary responsibility for
safeguarding human rights and fundamental freedoms, people and non-governmental
organizations also contribute significantly to upholding a just and equitable
society. All citizens are guaranteed the freedom of expression, association,
peaceful assembly, and authorized vocations under Article 19(1)(a). Everyone
has the fundamental right to seek, receive, & share ideas and information
regardless of their location or the medium used, as SC reiterated in the case
of Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India.
RIGHT
TO PRIVACYON INTERNET INDIAN SCENARIO
Data
saved, uploaded, downloaded, connected, or disseminated by electronic means
like computers, mobile phones, etc. may be easily exchanged on the vast
platform known as the Internet. The proliferation of internet services has led
many people to feel comfortable enough to share certain private details about
themselves online. As a consequence, there have been a number of cases of
people having their personal information stolen, such as the koobface malware
that infiltrated Facebook and sold users' data for illicit purposes. Cases like
Real Networks and Double Click include defendants who obtained plaintiffs'
private information without their knowledge or consent and then sold it to
other parties. A number of criteria have been proposed by Daniel J. Solove to
assess the potential "harm" that might result from an invasion of
one's right to privacy while using the internet. Information gathering,
processing, distribution, and invasion are the four main categories into which
these damages fall. Consequently, robust privacy regulations were necessary to
protect the integrity of the internet in relation to the inherent dignity of
every individual.
We
borrowed the idea of a right to life from the United States Constitution. M.P.
Sharma v. Satish Chandra [8], a case
involving the administration of criminal justice, was the first to address a
right to privacy problem. The case of Kharak Singh v. State of Uttar Pradesh
was a seminal decision that came later. [9]
According to the court's ruling, article 21 does not provide an express
protection of the right to private.
Continued
from there in Govind v. Madhya Pradesh State Justice Mathew acknowledged that
Articles 19(a), (d), and 21 give rise to a right to privacy, but he also noted
that this right is not absolute. The right to privacy, being a basic right in
and of itself, must be susceptible to limitation based on compelling public
interest, assuming that there are penumbral zones for the expressly given
fundamental rights to citizens. “Depending on the person's background, the
nature of the surveillance, the goals of the monitoring, and any restrictions
imposed, home visits may not always constitute an unjustified invasion of
privacy. Regarding "per-sons not places," the right to privacy is
concerned. Justice Krishna Iyer made a similar point in the same case, stating
that, while incomplete, the Indian constitution does provide some stake in
individual sovereignty.
Subsequently,
in the case of Kameshwar Prasad & Ors. v. The State of Bihar & Anr [10] this
Court ruled: Taking these US court
decisions into account, keep in mind that despite the fact that the First
Amendment says "Congress shall not make any law.... abridging the freedom
of speech,"...", This freedom belongs to the police power, the scope of which has not
been fully defined, but it has long been recognized that this does not provide
Congress the ability to restrict the exercise of the given right.
One
area of worry in India is the privacy of female users. There have been
countless examples when females have been harassed on social networking sites,
either by their own friends or by anonymous users. Numerous methods exist for
perpetrating harassment on the internet. Unauthorised email exchanges that are hostile,
threatening, or sexually explicit constitute a direct kind of online
harassment. As one example of electronic sabotage, the perpetrator may flood
the victim's inbox with spam.
ROLE
OF JUDICIARY AS WE BROADEN THE SCOPE OF CYBERSPACE
A
new way of thinking about and approaching lawmaking has emerged with the rise
of the Internet. The rules now apply to both humans and robots. One may argue
that computers are today both victims and weapons of crime.
After
two ladies voiced their disapproval during a bandh ordered after the death of
Shiv Sena chairman Bal Thackeray in November 2012, and were subsequently
arrested by the Mumbai police, Section 66A became notorious. Many people have
been arrested since then by different state police for minor offences related
to the distribution of internet information.
A
portion of IT Act of
2000 was knocked down by the country's highest court in the case of Shreya
Singhal Vs Union Of India [11]. A more
lenient set of criteria for reasonable limits was considered in the Shreya
Singhal case.
Shaneen
Dhanda and Rinu Srinivasan were two Mumbai girls who expressed their grief at
the death of Bal Thakrey, the leader of the Shiv Sena, on Facebook. In 2012,
they were detained by the Mumbai police for their actions. Officials from the
police department allegedly overstepped their bounds after the girls' release,
citing section 66A of IT Act of
2000. The relevant authority is granted the ability to arrest an individual
without a warrant under Section 66 A. The subsequent arrests of several
celebrities were based on offensive material they had posted on social media.
To avoid making an arrest without the Inspector of Police's or a senior
officer's prior consent, the police sought an advisory opinion in 2013.
In
his argument for a more lenient standard in the Shreya Singhal case, the
assistant solicitor general of India cited the following aspects of the
internet:-
1)
Internet access transcends physical borders.
People from all walks of life may access it. Because of this, individuals are
vulnerable to abuse and harassment regardless of where they reside.
2)
Internet use is prevalent among both educated
and unskilled individuals worldwide. The dissemination of any kind of offensive
material is as simple as clicking a mouse. Defamatory and otherwise
objectionable material is easily disseminated online. With the use of portable
electronic devices like smartphones, laptops, etc., it is easy to upload and
share media files. Any location might be a target for cybercriminals.
3)
Everyone has the freedom to publish,
broadcast, or share material online in their role as director, producer, or
viewer; hence, pre-censorship of online content is not an option.
4)
Morphing is a breeze to perform on the web.
Changes to people's voices made possible by modern technology have the
potential to cause serious social problems.
5)
Since more individuals have access to the
internet, it opens the door to more opportunities to pry into people's personal
lives. An invasion of privacy is an attack on fundamental human rights, such as
the freedom and dignity that are foundational to the right to exist. The
violation of article 21 is so obvious.
6)
The internet is not at all like television or
newspapers. Anonymity is a breeze to maintain. Criminals online have the
ability to sexually harass anyone. The internet is a constant invitation to say
anything disrespectful or unpleasant to anybody.
7)
Because of the internet, the attackers may
remain anonymous. The identity of the perpetrator remains concealed until an
inquiry is carried out with the assistance of an inspecting agency. The
cooperation of the compromised websites is essential to the successful
completion of this process.
8)
The unique approach to exercising free speech
on the internet and other social media platforms is a point number eight. The
oversight of appropriate standards and monitoring is flawed.
·
Section 66 A's ambiguity in language
The
judiciary used the case of K.A. Abbas v. The Union of India & Another [12] while debating the ambiguity of Section
66 A. In this case, the claim is that the rules are too general and don't allow
for any room for artistic brilliance. As a result, we must first determine
whether the 'void for vagueness' theory is relevant. Baldeo Prasad v. Madhya
Pradesh and Others, When faced with a seemingly ambiguous statute, the court
has an obligation to provide a reasonable interpretation, within the bounds of
the language available. The Goonda Act is an example of a legislation that
violates the Constitution when it cannot be reasonably construed, leaving its
users in an endless state of ambiguity, and when it seems to take away a
fundamental right.
UNIFORMED
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION & SPEECH ONLINE UNITED STATES
The First Amendment to U.S Constitution
guarantees the freedom of speech, which includes the press, throughout the
country.[13]
Freedom of the press is one of the five liberties guaranteed by U.S
Constitution in its first amendment. Today, it also encompasses the right to
freely express oneself online. In the case of Whitney vs. California in 1927,
the following were the opinions of Louis Brandis J. on the subject of free
speech under the United States Constitution:
“That
men should be free to develop their faculties was the ultimate goal of the
state, according to those who earned our freedom... They thought that the
freedom to think and voice one's mind were fundamental rights…”
In
an effort to limit free speech online, Congress passed a bill. We enacted the
Communications Decency Act (CDA) in 1996 to address this very problem.
Section
223(a) & (d) of Title 47 of U.S Code (USC)
[14] were revised by Section 502 of the Communications Decency Act.
The
use of an interactive computer service to transmit or show obviously
objectionable content to minors was also made illegal under these regulations,
as was the production of pornographic or otherwise inappropriate material &
its delivery to a minor via a telecommunications device. [15]
However, due to their conflict with the right to free speech, these
restrictions were seen as an unnecessary infringement on that right. Following
this, the ACLU took legal action to challenge the provision's
constitutionality. The case is well-known as ACLU v. Reno I, and it involves
Janet Reno, the United States Attorney General.
CONCLUSION
The rapid expansion of cyberspace has brought both opportunities and challenges, especially for women who increasingly face targeted forms of online harassment, defamation, and privacy violations. The Indian Constitution, as the supreme law of the land, provides a robust framework to protect women from such abuses through its guarantees of equality, freedom of expression, and personal liberty. Judicial interventions, such as the Shreya Singhal verdict striking down Section 66A of the IT Act, have reaffirmed the balance between free speech & protection from misuse of online platforms. However, the persistent ambiguity in cyber laws and the anonymity provided by digital media continue to pose major obstacles. There is an urgent need for a unified and gender-sensitive approach that integrates legal, technological, and educational strategies to combat cyber violence. Strengthening cyber law enforcement, promoting digital literacy, and ensuring timely judicial recourse can empower women to safely navigate the online world. Ultimately, safeguarding women’s rights in cyberspace is not just a constitutional mandate but a moral and social imperative for achieving equality, justice, and human dignity in the digital era.
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7.
(1978)
AIR 597
8.
(1954)
SCR 1077.
9.
(1954)
SCR 1077
10.
1962
Supp. (3) S.C.R. 369,
11.
24th
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12.
[1971] 2
S.C.R. 446:
13.
Congress
shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the
free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or
the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government
for a redress of grievances. 218274 U.S. 357 (1927)
14.
Prohibited
acts generally Whoever (1)in interstate or foreign communications (A)by means
of a telecommunications device knowingly (B)by means of a telecommunications
device knowingly (i)makes, creates, or solicits, and(ii)initiates the
transmission of,any comment, request, suggestion, proposal, image, or other
communication which is obscene or child
15.
Sending
or displaying offensive material to persons under 18 Whoever (1)in interstate
or foreign communications knowingly (A)uses an interactive computer service to
send to a specific person or persons under 18 years of age, or(B)uses any
interactive computer service to display in a manner available to a person under
18 years of age,any comment, request, suggestion, proposal, image, or other
communication that is obscene or child pornography, regardless of whether the
user of such service placed the call or initiated the communication;or(2)knowingly
permits any telecommunications facility under such person’s control to be used
for an activity prohibited by paragraph (1) with the intent that it be used for
such activity,