Bengaluru – Police recently arrested the man behind an Instagram account that posted videos of women walking on CBD roads without their permission. This incident has sparked concerns about the safety and privacy of women.
The account had around 11,000 followers and featured videos taken without the women’s consent. One college student, who appeared in one of the clips, reported the account after receiving vulgar messages from strangers online.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (South), Lokesh B Jagalasar, explained that street photography becomes illegal when someone photographs a person without their clear permission.
“The moment the person does not give consent, it is not okay to photograph or videograph her; it is a voyeuristic act. Secondly, the nature of photos you’re putting out should not be something which will portray a woman indecently. Even if you capture without consent but take a decent photograph, that’s also not okay,” he said.
He added that people must give clear consent, which is a basic requirement under the BNS and the IT Act. He explained, “In the name of content creation or something similar, people are performing these acts nowadays. In this particular case, that person was trying to camouflage it by saying, ‘I am doing street photography,’”.
Legal Experts and Cyber Activists Call for Tech Awareness
Lawyer Raghavendra Raikar also spoke on the issue, saying it’s against the law to take photos or videos of a woman in private moments in a public space without her consent, and to share them. He said, “If she gives consent for her photography, then it’s okay. Finally it’s up to the court to decide,”.
Cyber safety experts believe spreading awareness about responsible tech use and privacy rights can help stop such incidents from happening.
Apar Gupta from the Internet Freedom Foundation said the laws around filming in public spaces are not very clear. He said, “It is important to consider the purpose with which a person conducts an activity to ascertain if it is permissible since it impacts individual autonomy,”. He also referred to the Supreme Court’s Puttaswamy judgment, which said that privacy rights also apply in public areas.
Tanveer Hasan from the Centre for Internet Security believes that just making new laws isn’t enough.
“If they bring in a law, it might violate the fundamental rights of citizens. Tech should be seen as a double-edged sword. People should be sensitised to irresponsible use of social media and taught about tech hygiene,” he said.
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