amendments to the Indian Penal Code by the insertion of Sections 153C and 505A, expanding the scope of hate speech laws in India, including by explicitly recognising hate based on sex, gender identity, sexual orientation or disability, among others. In October 2017, the Internet Freedom Foundation released a leaked copy of another report: the recommendations of an expert committee headed by TK Visvanathan, which was formed after section 66A of the IT Act was struck down as unconstitutional.151 This report proposes further changes to both draft provisions proposed in the Law Commission report on hate speech, including to make explicit that these sections apply to communications on the internet as well. While these changes overall are improvements over the proposals by the Law Commission, its proposed new section 505A of the IPC, in particular – and contrary to what the report claims – continues to suffer from the same issues of vagueness and overbreadth that afflicted section 66A of the IT Act. For example, many of the terms used to describe communication that would be criminalised under the section are imprecise and nebulous. Similarly, although the proposed section specifies that there needs to be an “intention to cause fear of injury” or an “intention to cause alarm”, this qualification arguably does not pass the “clear and present danger” test. In Shreya Singhal v. Union of India, the Supreme Court had ruled that discussion or even advocacy of a cause was not sufficient to justify any restriction on the right to freedom of speech and expression; only when this reaches the level of incitement does Article 19(2) apply. A number of other laws and policies that are currently in the drafting stage have the potential to negatively impact the right to freedom of speech and expression on the internet in the future as well. The Draft Prohibition of Indecent Representation of Women and Children Bill, 2012,152 sought to widen the scope of its parent act to include communications made over electronic media. The bill proposed new definitions for “indecent representation of women”, “electronic form” and “publish”. This bill released by the Ministry of Women and Child Development is still pending. The Ministry of Home Affairs released the Draft Geospatial Information Regulation Bill153 in 2016, 151 TK Visvanathan Committee. (n/d). Recommendations of TK Visvanathan Committee. New Delhi: TK Visvanathan Committee. https://internetfreedom.in/files/documents/recommendations. of.t.k.visanathan.committee.pdf 152 www.prsindia.org/billtrack/the-indecent-representation-ofwomen-prohibition-amendment-bill-2012-2576/ 153 www.prsindia.org/uploads/media/draft/Draft%20Geospatial%20 Bill,%202016.pdf and called for comments from all stakeholders. The bill sought to regulate the acquisition, publication, modification and dissemination of any representation of spatial attributes of India. After business interests and user groups across the country sent comments against the proposed bill, there have been no developments. This bill would have affected several internet-age businesses involved in logistics management, humanitarian relief efforts and, of course, users, and would limit freedom of speech by limiting their use of maps. The Draft National Encryption Policy 2015154 released by the Department of Electronics and Information Technology sought to increase the security of the internet and related information systems by regulating the strength of encryption that may be used. However, the policy if implemented would have imposed great burdens on users and businesses to store in plaintext any information exchanged via electronic media for up to 90 days after the communication was made. Contrary to the stated objectives, such a policy would have been disastrous to the security of communications and information networks, and to user privacy. At present, although this does not seem to be enforced, telecom licences disallow ISPs from using bulk encryption, as well as prescribing a maximum 40-bit encryption for individuals, groups or organisations without obtaining permission from the government. For stronger encryption, prior permission from the government is required and the decryption key, split into two parts, is to be deposited with the government. Following the unanimous verdict by the nine judges of the Supreme Court in KS Puttaswamy v. Union of India,155 we can expect legislation on data protection in the near future. The judgment also affirms that the right to privacy, which is enshrined in the right to life, affects the enjoyment of the right to freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a). Summary and conclusions While the Shreya Singhal judgement might have signified an important victory for freedom of expression in the digital space in India, many challenges remain. Criminal defamation is used all too often by powerful actors to silence critical voices. Laws regarding sedition and the protection of national symbols are misused to curtail political dissent. Provisions regarding hate speech often reward those who respond with threats of violence to 154 www.netzpolitik.org/wp-upload/draft-Encryption-Policyv1.pdf 155 KS Puttaswamy v. Union of India. WP (CIVIL) 494 of 2012. INDIA / 81