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Follow UsBANGALORE, INDIA: Anonymous, the infamous hacktivist cult, has taken down Union minister for communications and IT, Kapil Sibal's personal website, www.kapilsibalmp.com, showing disapprobation on his comments about the Section 66A of the IT Act, 2000.
On Thursday, the Centre announced that it would come up with new guidelines on the Act, including necessitating approval of senior police officers to put behind bars someone accused of defamation or derogatory statements on the Internet.
Now, a complaint under the IT Act can be registered only after an approval of either a deputy commissioner of police or an inspector general.
"A junior police officer cannot register any complaint unless he has obtained prior approval at the level of an officer not below the rank of DCP in urban and rural areas of the country and not below the rank of IGP in metropolitan cities," Sibal had said.
The India operations of Anonymous rebuked within hours after the minister had spoken about 'victims of freedom of expression. "Kapil Sibal is being a retard ..... again ...... and again .... and again. IT Act #66a," (sic) it tweeted from its official handle, @opindia_revenge (AnonOpsIndia)
"Kapil Sibal should look around the world before saying sh*t like "Victims of Freedom of Expression,"" (sic) it further noted.
It stated that he used the words, despite hiding the fact that the section under scrutiny is breaking the Internet media. "why did the govt. pass 66A? To make sure that online media in India is neutered and is made as un-free as the rest of the media in India," (sic) another tweet followed.
About the attack on his site, it said, "Kapil Sibal's site is getting trolled links to come up soon. IT Act #66A." (sic)
Even before Anonymous Ops India took down the site, it had defaced Sibal's pictures on some pages, including the Constituency tab, which was rechristened into Constituency Profile Hell, flashing a mock question on what was harmful to the growth of the country, with three options being Sibal and one: Freedom.
The hacktivist group also promted Indians not to stay silent, but protests at various locations against IT Act, by giving a link: http://bit.ly/Rdlt7e.
The controversy surrounding the IT Act Section has been gaining momentum following a spate of arrests across the country over cartoons, comments and tweets on social media and other platforms on the Web. The latest was the arrests of two Palghar girls, Shaheen Dhada and Rinu Srinivasan, after their Facebook comment and 'Like', respectively, on the demise of Shiv Sena chief Balasaheb Thackeray and the strike that ensued.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court issued notices on Friday to the Centre and five states, Delhi, Maharashtra, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal on section 66A on a PIL by 21-year-old Shreya Singhal, a Delhi-based student.
Singhal reportedly said, "The phraseology of Section 66A of the IT Act,2000 is so wide and vague and incapable of being judged on objective standards, that it is susceptible to wanton abuse and hence falls foul of Article 14, 19 (1)(a) and Article 21 of the Constitution."