A Citizenship Programme- Talk on social media and its legal implications

On 20th April 2018, we invited Mr. Sumit Nagpal, of the Spread Law Group and

Capt. J Marwah, to address students of classes 7 to 10 on the legal implications of misuse of the social media. This was Mr. Nagpals second visit to our School after September 2017 when his chat with classes 10 and 11 was highly appreciated.

Mr. Sumit Nagpal spoke at length about the possible consequences of merely posting, liking, commenting or sharing things casually on the social media. Students were informed about relevant articles in the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the penalties prescribed by these. He cited a few recent examples so that the children could relate to the laws he was speaking about.

Everything posted on the social media is subject to legal scrutiny, he explained. Shaming people, infringing upon anothers right to privacy, anti-national posts, obscene materials etc., are not allowed to be posted or shared on social media sites like Whatsapp, Facebook, Twitter and the others. Punishment could be upto 3 years of jail with fines, if anything unlawful is posted.

If any objectionable material is found on your mobile, even though it has been distributed by another source, it can still have legal implications. Once deleted, it can amount to destruction of evidence. The best piece of information Mr. Nagpal gave the children is that even if you delete anything, THE INTERNET NEVER FORGETS! The contents will be stored in archives or a back up site or in the data bank. He thus repeatedly clarified that one must be very circumspect whilst posting or liking anything on the social media including on whatsapp groups.

The talk was a great source of information for the students as well as the teachers, aimed at educating the children to exercise great caution whilst on social media. Mr. Nagpal concluded with a line from the movie Spiderman .. with great power comes great responsibility and urged the children to be selective in their choice of words and language while posting on social media platforms.

Students presented Mr. Nagpal with a painting and a plant from our Shramdaan programme as a token of thanks.