Kerala HC asserts social media good in hands of worthy, some can misuse freedom to extreme

On Thursday, Kerala High Court stated that while freedom of speech and expression is a "valuable" right, some "misuse it to the extreme" and added that social media is useful in the hands of the worthy only, otherwise it can be "an unrestrained playground of their wildest predilections" for some.

Justice Devan Ramachandran made the remarks while responding to comments made on social media by a former judicial officer who made "disrespectful" and "vitriolic" comments against the high court's directives regarding the inquiry against self-styled antique merchant Monson Mavunkal.

Social media good only in hands of worthy: Kerala HC

"Social media is good in the hands of the good and worthy. But for some it is an unrestrained playground of their wildest predilections," the Kerala HC said.

According to the court, the former judicial official had also made personal insults to the judge. Instead of immediately taking
action against the former judicial officer under the Contempt of Courts Act, Justice Ramachandran said he asked the former judicial officer to appear before the court and explain what was going wrong.

However, the former judicial officer failed to appear in court. "The tragedy of today's world is that loudmouths believe they can vitriolically post and comment about anything on social media without fear of being held accountable."

Following that, the High court said in its order that when the former judicial officer was summoned, he responded by 'ridiculing the court' and calling it 'fascist'. The Kerala High Court Registry discovered that he had also put up posts depicting himself as a martyr and threatening to harm himself, according to the report.
 
Justice Ramachandran went on to say that free speech is a "key to the intellect" and that the ability to express oneself is "the most valuable and powerful aspect of human existence," but that some people "misuse the freedom to its extreme."

"The scenario is, thus, clear. The mindset of this individual is nihilistic and I, therefore, close this opportunity of hearing to him, recognising that he will have nothing worthwhile to say," Justice Ramachandran said. 

The court stated that the activities of such individuals "compel" even right-thinking citizens to seek online space control.

With PTI Inputs

Image: ANI/ Rep