Allahabad High Court: Liking a Social Media Post Not a Crime Under IT Act

Agra, April 18: In a significant ruling, the Allahabad High Court has observed that merely liking a social media post does not amount to publishing or transmitting objectionable material under Section 67 of the Information Technology Act, 2000. The court stated that such action cannot attract penal provisions unless it involves explicit obscene content.

The ruling was delivered by Justice Saurabh Srivastava while quashing criminal proceedings against Imran Khan, a resident of Agra, who was booked for allegedly promoting provocative content on social media.

The case originated from Khan’s act of liking a Facebook post by one Chaudhari Farhan Usman, which referred to a protest gathering to submit a memorandum to the President of India. Authorities claimed the post triggered an assembly of 600-700 people from the Muslim community, forming a procession without prior permission.

However, the court clarified that Section 67 of the IT Act specifically pertains to obscene content — material that is “lascivious or appeals to the prurient interest.” It emphasized that the law does not cover provocative political content.

“Merely liking a message will not attract penalty under Section 67 of the I.T. Act or any other criminal offence,” the court said, adding that there was no provocative or objectionable content found on Mr. Khan’s Facebook or WhatsApp accounts.

The judge further noted that the police allegations were based on assumptions and lacked concrete evidence linking the applicant to any offensive material.

The ruling came on a petition filed under Section 482 of the CrPC, which allows the High Court to quash frivolous or baseless legal proceedings.

This verdict sets a crucial precedent on the interpretation of online actions in the context of criminal law, especially concerning freedom of expression and digital behavior.