Neelakshi Joshi & Nikita Sharma
Indore Institute of Law, Indore
Internet is a double-edged sword where everyone is balancing between the risks and opportunities it offers. Although it plays a very important role in providing necessary information and an active role in social movements, it has also shown people the darker side of the web. Social media has become a platform for people to express their opinions and expose their talents. It provides a plethora of opportunities to content creators, be it a dancer, singer, or even comedian. Everybody is trying to bring something new and likewise, comedians are too trying to bring different forms of comedy inspired by other countries to India and one of the emerging forms of comedy that is making inroads in India is “Roasting”.
“Roast” is a prevalent form of humour in India and abroad where an individual invited as a guest of honour, is subjected to jokes and criticism to entertain the audience. Such events are organized to honour a specific person with jokes and insult comedy.
The insinuation is that the roastee may take the jokes in good humor instead of rudeness or criticism. But sometimes this comedy may take the form of cyberbullying. The word cyberbullying is not defined under any Indian legal provision however, Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines cyberbullying as “the electronic posting of mean-spirited messages about a person (such as students) often done anonymously”.
Roasting: A Form of Glorified Bullying
Roasting is just bullying coated with comedy. Most of the roasts are consent-based. Individuals give their consent to roast them but sometimes this is done merely to gain likes and fame. The person who is roasting is not even aware of how his words can distress the person being roasted. Most often the roast script is not true and just based on assumptions or some rumors. When once it gets posted, there is no going back because roasting is done on such a large platform where millions of people are watching. In addition, there is no magic wand to remove anything from the minds of the people. So, once a video is posted it becomes a chain. People start roasting him on different platforms or via different methods like making memes, messaging, and even spamming. These inhumane acts may cause fear and force a person to take a disturbing step. If we take the reference of recent viral controversial video YouTube vs. TikTok in which Ajay Nagar whose screen name is Carryminati, a 20-year-old boy, roasted a TikToker Amir S. After the video got viral, there was a flood of memes on Amir. Though the video was later deleted by YouTube until then it had gained wide popularity and everyone remembers it to date.
Next and the biggest harm caused by this bullying hiding in the veil of comedy is that sometimes not only it can hurt the person who is being roasted but may also hurt the sentiments of the whole community. Still sticking to the above example in the video of TikTok vs. YouTube, Ajay Nagar had allegedly used slurs like “Meetha” and “Pari” about the creator of TikTok. These words in the video are believed to have offended the LBGTQ+ community for being transphobic or homophobic.
Moreover, these types of insult comedy which mostly comprise of foul and abusive language are easily accessible to children. Guidelines of these social platforms are not strict; it is easy to misrepresent. Roasting is becoming a trend in children. They find it smart to abuse or make fun of their known ones in the name of roasting. They are unaware of the consequences. Their fun can be insulting for others and may even become a reason for depression or low self-esteem and that is what bullying results in. This roasting is teaching children how to mock someone or how to make fun of someone’s disability.
Laws Related to Cyberbullying:
Supreme Court’s Cyber Law Expert, Pavan Duggal said, “Currently there are no laws in India on cyberbullying. It is indeed correct that there have been reports of a couple of suicides having been committed by individuals due to cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is also taking serious roots in India. This is also so given the pent- up tendency amongst people in this part of the world to give vent to their suppressed feelings”.
There is no proper law of the cyber-bullying and roasting in India. However provisions such as Section 66A (sending offensive messages through communication service, etc.), Section 67 (deals with cyber-bullying) of Information Technology Act, 2005. Section 499 (Defamation) of IPC, Section 507 (Criminal Intimidation by Anonymous Communication) of IPC, Section 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of IPC can come into force.
Conclusion:
Jokes and Comedies are to laugh about and not to insult someone. It can affect someone’s self-esteem, self-confidence, and even drive them to self-harm. Because the current legal system is inefficient and unintelligible when it comes to dealing with the cases of cyber-bullying, roasting and other online offenses since they lack proper laws. Thus, a question hits my mind here that if anyone commits suicide due to any such issue, who is to be held responsible? It is high time now and the government must come forward to address the issue of cyber-bullying, roasting and other online offenses as a new trend. The government must help lawmakers in formulating policies and regulatory laws that might help to identify as well as control the threat.
REFERENCES:
- Merriam-Webster Dictionary
- http://www.ciolcom/india-lacking-laws-curb-cyberbullying/
- Information Technology Act, 2005.
- Supra note 3.
- The Indian Penal Code, 1860.
- Supra note 5.
- The Indian Penal Code, 1860.
