ICT Act 2001, Sec 46(h) vs Facebook comments

From: Ish Sookun <ish.sookun_at_lsldigital.mu>
Date: Thu, 17 Sep 2015 19:46:16 +0400

Hello,

As per an article [1] on lexpress.mu, the President of the Government
Teachers' Union (GTU) has been found guilty of an offence cited in the
ICT Act 2001.

The offence, Section 46(h)(ii), is described as follows:

        "Any person who uses an information and communication service,
including telecommunication service for the purpose of causing
annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety to any person."

The President of GTU apparently posted comments on Facebook which seem
"defamatory". From the article I could not grasp whether the comments
were posted on the defendant's wall or the plaintiff's.

My question is, whether Section 46(h) remains valid for comments that
are posted on a Facebook wall?

The clause in the ICT Act says "for the purpose of causing annoyance,
inconvenience or needless anxiety". How does one measure the level of
needless anxiety?

The plaintiff made the following comment:

        "Linn difam mwa. Ena bann fos sarz ki li finn mété. Francheman mo dir
ou, kan monn get sa bann komanter-la, vréman monn blésé."

The defendant said he posted the comments during last year's election
for the presidency of the Federation of Civil Service Unions.

If one reads comments/posts during elections, I guess a lot of Facebook
users would be found guilty under Section 46(h) of the ICT Act 2001.

[1]
http://www.lexpress.mu/article/268852/commentaires-sur-facebook-vinod-seegum-coupable-davoir-contrarie-une-collegue

Regards,

-- 
Ish Sookun
Received on Thu Sep 17 2015 - 15:46:34 PST

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