Takshashila Issue Paper - Governance of DCNs III: Indian Legal Landscape on Online Harms

High Tech Geopolitics
Written By Guest User

Executive Summary

This document makes an exhaustive study of the Indian legal framework on online harms on Digital Communication Networks (DCNs). It defines online harms as a set of actions that can occur on DCNs that can cause legal injuries to users, whether individuals or groups of individuals.

  1. The document identifies various harms that are experienced by users on DCNs, broadly placing them in two categories: harms identified as legal injuries by the law or harms that have “less clear” legal definition within India’s current legal framework.

  2. The categorisation and the following discussion represent how the current framework can be useful with appropriate interpretation. The document concludes by arguing that online harms on DCNs are not completely unregulated, and that proposals to regulate them must be mindful of the existing framework. Regulatory checks and balances should ensure that they do not deprive users and the ecosystem of the benefits brought by DCNs and must strive to strike a balance to protect the best interest of all stakeholders.

Author

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Sapni G K
Sapni G K

Sapni is a lawyer and was a Research Analyst with the High Tech Geopolitics Programme at Takshashila Institution from 2021 to 2022. Her primary research interest lies at the intersection of cyberspace and its regulation, with a focus on its impacts on society.

 
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