Bengaluru, June 18: Karnataka State Police Director General and IGP (DG & IGP) M.A. Salim has issued a strict order that if a person’s private or intimate pictures and videos are shared on social media or elsewhere without their consent, an FIR should be registered immediately in cases of online blackmail, revenge pornography and sextortion.
This important order was issued on June 16 in the wake of complaints that the police are delaying or rejecting the registration of complaints related to sextortion, blackmail and revenge pornography. In some cases, the complaints were refused on the grounds that the victims had previously consented to the shooting of the picture or video. The police chief has clarified this confusion in his order.
What are the points in the order?
Consent to record a picture or video and consent to share it with others are completely different legal concepts. Even if the victim has initially consented to the taking of the photo or video, sharing it with a third party or publicly without their consent is a serious offence. M.A. Saleem clarified in the order.
It has been reiterated that no police station can delay or refuse to register an FIR on the ground that the victim had consent.
The order cited the landmark 2017 Supreme Court judgment in the case of Justice K.S. Puttaswamy vs. Union of India. It was recalled that the right to physical privacy and control over the sharing of personal information is a fundamental right of every citizen under Article 21 of the Constitution.
Sharing private scenes in violation of the rule is an offence of voyeurism (invasion of privacy) under Section 77 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The DG and IGP have warned that strict disciplinary action will be taken against police officers who refuse or delay in registering an FIR when such cybercrimes are reported.