Privacy, rape and the Internet
The Internet is making protection of identity difficult
In India, like in many other countries around the world, media organisations are legally required to protect the identity of rape victims. But several Internet giants have come under cloud for not following this law.
The Delhi High court recently served notice to Google, Twitter, YouTube, Bing and Facebook after a photo of a young girl raped and murdered in Kathua was circulated online. In a hearing about disclosing the identity of rape victims, including that of the eight-year-old girl killed in Kathua, the Indian Supreme Court asserted that even the dead have dignity and that they cannot be “named or shamed”.
According to the Indian Penal Code, whoever publishes the name or by any means discloses the identity of a victim is liable to imprisonment and fine. But this law is often not adhered to in India.
A study by a Mumbai-based NGO which surveyed more than 600 cases across three years found that between 2011–12, victim names appeared in the judgment in 36% cases despite the Supreme Court guidelines to keep it confidential.
In a study by The Hoot on English dailies for a period of two months on how rape is reported in the media, it was found that in 34% of reports, the identity of the victim was made vulnerable to identification, with the newspapers providing certain details about the victims.
In 2012, the news media referred to the Delhi gang rape victim as ‘Nirbhaya’ (instead of by her real name). But in some cases the identity of the victim is revealed one way or the other. In 2009, for instance, the Imphal Free Press of a rape victim, according to The Hoot. The rape of the young child in Kathua has brought back the focus on the role of media in revealing the identity of rape victims.
