Social media misuse by terrorists should be borne in mind by courts: Delhi HC

The Delhi High Court has reduced the jail sentences of two women convicted for supporting the banned terrorist organization, Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), a regional affiliate of ISIS. The court observed that while encrypted social media platforms permit privacy and the freedom of speech and expression, their misuse by terrorists and banned organisations has to be borne in mind by courts while awarding sentences.
The jail terms of two women, Hina Bashir Beigh and Sadiya Anwar Shaikh, were reduced by the court. Beigh’s sentence was reduced from eight to six years, while Shaikh’s sentence was reduced from seven to six years.
The court considered the women’s active involvement with the terrorist organization, their use of fake identities, and their educational qualifications to promote terrorism. The bench noted that Beigh, wife of convict Jahanzaib Sami, allowed her laptop to be used by her husband, and they exchangeably used each other’s phones.
“Considering the specific facts of the present case, the proliferation of crime through the internet and social media platforms cannot be ignored. The fact that the appellants (Beigh and Shaikh) used fake identities to conceal their original identity and avoid tracing also cannot be ignored,” a bench of Justices Prathiba M Singh and Amit Sharma said.
“The proliferation of crime through the internet and social media platforms cannot be ignored,” the court said. “The appellants (Beigh and Shaikh) were technologically savvy and utilized their educational backgrounds to promote terrorism and incite violence.”
The court further said that such cases would have to be dealt with differently from those involving innocent persons, who may have been pulled into crime without their knowledge.
Factors such as funding through Bitcoins and the use of journalistic credentials to publish and disseminate magazines to incite violence also cannot be ignored, it added.