As someone who grew up from the ranks of the journalist fraternity, Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh is always sensitive to the issues of freedom of expression and press freedom and he often likes to talk about his days in the profession and the struggles he have had to face as a journalist and editor working in a conflict situation. He had once championed the cause of press freedom both as an editor of a popular daily newspaper and President of the All Manipur Working Journalists Union and he even went to jail in 2000 for publishing an allegedly seditious speech of a human rights activist. His activism for the cause of press freedom and human rights was of courage under fire and quite appreciated in those days. One can still detect a glimpse of that persona, even as he transformed himself into a shrewd politician and now donning the hat of chief minister. But 20 years is a long time in politics that too in the garb of a politician belonging to the ruling party, almost 15 years in Congress and nearly five years in BJP. And one should not be surprised in any change of perception and outlook not only in terms of press freedom but in all other matters concerning the issues of the state. Now that he is at the helm of affairs, he has to change and dwell in a world where the concerns of the state come first. That is exactly why he is now emphasizing more on press freedom which is not absolute and has limitations, while talking about the tenets of responsible journalism.
Speaking at the occasion of National Press Day, Chief Minister N Biren Singh had stated that the state would always uphold freedom of expression and would never curtail press freedom. However, one should also ensure that freedom of expression does not violate morality and decency. At every available opportunity, the chief minister had been echoing his sentiments on the misuse of the Constitutional right of freedom of speech and expression on numerous occasions reminding everyone that the ‘right’ itself is not absolute and the state has a right to impose reasonable restrictions on the exercise of the right if anybody breaches decency and morality, public order, and security of the state. And he promises action if anybody violates it. We quite agree with the fact that, on certain occasions the boundaries of responsible journalism had been breached by some and news-items bordering on defamatory insinuations or one-sided versions had been published by some in the mainstream media. But generally, the publications in mainstream could have been overlooked or dealt with a general reprimand without the stick.
However, the case is often different in social media. With the proliferation of several social media apps or OTT platforms, the lines have been blurred. The chief minister is right in saying that the way to express something or to say something should be a decent one. It should not affect the morality of society adversely. Sections 292 to 294 of the Indian Penal Code provide instances of restrictions on the freedom of speech and expression in the interest of decency or morality. Another area of concern is public order, as used in Article 19. It includes not only utterances that are directly intended to lead to disorder but also those that have the tendency to lead to disorder. The expression 'public order' connotes the sense of public peace, safety and tranquility. But mere criticism of the government does not necessarily disturb public order. While traditional media has somehow retained control over what gets published, social media platforms are mostly unregulated. But, the solution does not always lie in regulation or invoking laws to punish the abusers but in how to inculcate a sense of self-accountability among users of social media platforms and general population more particularly the youth. The stick needs to be used wisely and sparingly.
