ONLINE DEFAMATION AND FREE SPEECH IN INDIA

With the advancement of technology in the form of social media, blogs, messaging apps, digital news etc., speech is faster wider and more durable than ever across platforms. That transformation in India has led to tensions regarding protecting reputation without curbing genuine criticisms, legitimate journalism , satire or dissent by people. Online defamation forms this intersection and the Indian law mainly works to maintain the balance between constitutional free speech protections and defamation provisions under Criminal and Civil law. Article 19 (1)(a) of the constitution guarantees freedom of speech and expression to all the citizens subject to certain reasonable restrictions under clause (2), which includes defamation. Moreover, the Supreme Court has expanded the scope of Article 21 to include right to reputation as well. Comprehensively, we see Indian law treat defamation not merely as an exception to free speech casually but as a serious constitutional limit on speech.