AMEYA

Editors
Mr. Viswanadham Bulusu
Principal

Suseela Kanduri
Associate Professor

Aurora’s Degree & PG College

Chikkadpally, Hyderabad, Telangana
 48 Social Media: Privacy and
Autonomy of Women
Meera Mathew
Symbiosis Law School,
Noida - 201309, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Email: [email protected]

Privacy has long been a rudimentary issue, and of late, it has gained more implication with the
rise in digital technology. Women are particularly vulnerable to privacy problems since it has different
layers and consequences for women: be it the objectification of women or hostility against women or
harassment or outraging her modesty and dignity. This paper aims to explore if women in social media
enjoy the same level and sort of desirable privacy that men do. Secondly, it would analyze if privacy
of women being a participant of social media is more at risk for the forms of insignificant power
imbalances and online aggression that are reported. It is a truth that devoid of privacy rights, one
cannot have autonomy. And devoid of autonomy, there cannot be the bodily integrity. Women should,
therefore, be empowered to believe that their bodies, their thoughts and their spaces cannot be invaded
without their consent. With this hypothesis, the author would examine the prevailing privacy policies
in online platforms and critically analyze where the grey area lies. The author feels that a female-
focused attitude on privacy in cyberspace is indispensable because only with such a view can
humanity begin to appraise how the advent of the technology and user generated data conjoined with
augmented opportunities has also affected the privacy predicament that once epitomized many
women’s lives.
Nature has willed men and women to be equal. However, there is a very wide gap between the
goals enunciated in the legislation, policies, plans, programmes and related mechanism on the one
hand, and the situational reality of the status of woman on the other. Gender disparity and viciousness
against women prevail in all societies and so is women’s struggle for freedom and equality. The
violence or threat against women is majorly sexual in nature, or they face restrictions in their work just
because they are born as females. Besides, prejudice, exclusion and public repudiation by both state
forces and social actors mull over heavily in their lives. Harassment and violence ranging from verbal
abuse are directed absolutely at women owing to their gender and sexuality though universally gender
justice is widely acknowledged. Hence, it is difficult to have adequate protection for women human
rights defenders within male-dominated social formations or spaces that subsist all over the world. To
say, it is more in profession than in practice. Even today, women are at the receiving end. Drawing
from a review of extensive research into human rights law at international, regional and national levels,
it can be seen that all forms of sexual and sexuality-related violence target at the women and they
continue to be the object of male animosity and the ire of times. Accomplishing equality amid women
and men requires a broad understanding of the ways in which women experience biasness and are
deprived of equality so as to progress suitable approaches to eradicate such discrimination.
Additionally, the underlying assumption around which laws focusing on obscenity and (in)decency in
India are based on the belief that sexuality is an inherently corrupting force that serves to destroy the
moral and social fabric of a culture, and therefore, something that needs to be suppressed. Sexuality,

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therefore, encompasses diverse forms of behavior and expression, and that the recognition of sexuality
contributes to societies’ overall sense of well-being and welfare. This change can happen only when
the gender equality is acknowledged and women’s rights are fully accommodated.
The crimes against women knows no boundaries and it has even implications after the Internet
technologies continued to progress over the last few decades. Research states that cyber crimes against
women have significantly increased a staggering number infringing the privacy norms. Unfortunately,
not many women come forward to report these fearing the consequential humiliation and affecting
social status. Because of the volume of data and information they deal with, many Internet and social
media companies struggle to articulate and enforce standards. There is this intersection of two
hegemonic superstructure – patriarchies and the law. Within this space, the loaded understanding of
women’s bodies and the lack of understanding of the multiple layers and sub-groups of women against
one homogenous section of population, render it even so more. Women more often have to cope with
stereotypical insights about their looks, how they express their views and perform and the part they
should render. Additionally, their overly or inadequately feminine behavior is a theme of consistent
and common remarks, spams and contempt. The same is factual of their relationship status, how open
they express it, their opinions on sexual and gender rights, fictional or genuine.
This paper, therefore, aims to perceive how far the technological proliferation especially with
social media affects the integrity of women, predominantly distressing her privacy rights. Further,
it examines the feminist ideologies on expression and autonomy that moot for a female-focused
attitude on privacy in cyberspace. It would further see how far women are capable and autonomous to
report and project the privacy problems. Hence, the issue here is whether they are vulnerable or
whether the targeted women of cyber crimes are to be felt stigmatized? In this regard, the paper would
analyze the Stigma Theory put forward by Erving Goffman where he defines ‘stigmatized people’ as
those who do not have complete social reception and are frequently endeavoring to bend their social
identities. In the course of reaching at its conclusion, it would further analyze the changing dimension
of privacy and requisite for a rights based approach by the State actors and need for capability
approach by woman herself.

Privacy and Changing Dimension

Legally, the concept of ‘privacy’ refers both to individuals’ interests in preventing the state from
interfering in the so-called private sphere of home and family and the legal interest in keeping certain
information private or secret from others. Hence, the protection of privacy is in the interests of both
the individual and society. It is in the public interest to protect the interests of individuals against
injury to their emotions and mental suffering. To treat privacy as entirely an individual interest and to
trench it against other public interests is injudicious. It has been stated by various philosophers that
protection is needed for upholding various rational, reputational, and proprietary interests. For this
reason, Robert Post precisely stated that the cognitive harm that results from distortion is generic and
the amount to which one is coerced to expose more private information to correct the distortion from
being judged out of background results in an injury that is wholly a dilemma of solemnity rather than
autonomy. For instance, according to Alan Westin, there are four crucial stages of individual privacy
as: (i) Solitude, (ii) Intimacy, (iii) Anonymity and (iv) Reserve. From what it was conceptualized early,
the term privacy encompasses many layers today. No doubt, privacy is a value which highlights other
fundamental rights and freedoms, a free and liberal humanity. It is recognized that a person who
engages in online activities which are readily accessible to all users should have no expectations of
privacy. For illustration, a message posted to a public newsgroup or bulletin board on the Internet is
available for anyone to read and copy. And if the participant is just posting to friends only or
Social Media: Privacy and Autonomy of Women 99

customized to certain group, it can be accessible to such selected group. The issue is with public
postings made on the Internet that can also be archived in searchable databases.
Indeed, social media support individuals to create a public or semi-public outline within an
enclosed system, thereby articulating a catalogue of other users with whom they allocate a connection,
and facilitate users to inspect and navigate their list of connections and those made by others within
the system. Nevertheless, there can in assumption, conceivably, be an incursion of privacy without any
loss of susceptible facts about an individual. Accordingly, social media trail aids some members of
a social group to dwell associated or network in qualitatively significant manner. Not all affiliates of
a social group may partake in a social media circuit, since the way of such sharing is depending on
whom the contributor shared it to. In the background of video sharing or posting photos that are shared
with certain individuals and not others materially, there replicates dissimilar community arrangement.
This erodes the traditional boundaries between ‘publicity’ and ‘privacy’ in fundamental ways.
Additionally, it encourages new categories of nuanced behavioral categories that are neither strictly
public nor strictly private. With the global connectivity and the availability of certain features on
social media such as downloading, tagging and sharing facility, the safety of information is a matter of
concern. Cyber crimes may be against Property, Government and Person. Of this, dealing with the
cyber crimes against person, it can be stated that the women are affected more compared to men due to
unsolicited sexually categorical messages, posts or e-mails or incongruous or offensive advances on
social networking websites. Dealing with Indian framework on cyberspace crimes and laws, there had
been no single statute in India for governing cyber laws pertaining to issues on privacy, jurisdiction,
intellectual property rights and a number of other legal questions until the introduction of Information
Technology Act, 2000. With the increasing nuances in technical and technological uprising, further it
was felt that the Act has some deficiency thereby it was further amended in the form of IT
Amendment Act, 2008. Apart from this special statute, there are certain sections of Indian Penal Code
and Article 21 of Indian Constitution are some governing laws for cyberspace crime which imposes
various liabilities in India. The question is how far these laws address the women-targeted crimes such
as revenge porn. Undoubtedly, cyber crimes including revenge porn might affect both men and women,
however indeed women are disproportionately stricken. This is mostly because of the patriarchic
standards that regulate sexual behavior and activity. As writer Allen points out, women in cyberspace
do not enjoy the same level and types of desirable privacy that men do:
“Women face special privacy problems in cyberspace because there, too, they are perceived
as inferiors, ancillaries, and safe targets and held more accountable for their private
conduct.”
Most of the governing laws are never an hindrance for cyber offenders. It is pertinent here to state
on Ritu Kohli case, being India’s first case of cyber stalking. In this case, Ms. Ritu Kohli filed
a complaint to police against an anonymous offender, who was applying her identity to chat over the
Internet at the website http://www.micro.com/ for four sequential days. Apparently, the person was
using her name and providing her address and was speaking in obscene language. The concerned
person was also purposely giving her phone number to other chatters encouraging them to call Ritu
Kohli at odd hours. Consequently, Ms. Kohli received almost 40 calls in three days generally on odd
hours. The supposed calls created a mayhem in personal life of the complainant. Accordingly,
IP addresses was outlined and police scrutinized the entire problem and eventually arrested the
wrongdoer. A case was registered under the Section 509 of IPC, and thereafter, he was released on bail.
This is the first time when a case of cyber stalking was reported. Though these are offences under
Information Technology Act under sections 67A and 67B of the IT Act as blackmailing, cyber
bullying, cyber stalking or harassing, sending obscene messages through any electronic mails, not
much developments ensuring the safety of women and children happened so far. Additionally, there
100 Ameya

could be intimidations of physical or sexual vehemence by e-mail that degrades her identity and other
traits (for instance, sexual orientation).
With the prevalence of social media, the creation of web page within social networking sites
depicting pornographic pictures of minor children, with abusive and sexual comments and was
circulated among the public widely is also rampant. The best example is the case of Rahul Pashupal
and his wife Reshmi for launching the website and Facebook by name ‘Kochusundarikal’ depicting
pornographic pictures of minor girls along with others, with abusive and sexual comments and made
wide circulation in social network and made advertisements through the Internet. There are reports
that assert that marriages of women victims were blocked due to their online victimization. However,
many women at this instance choose to endure these pains without reporting petrified of social stigma.
When cyber crime strikes, persons take it individually and essentially blame themselves for some
cases of cyber crime. Even when it comes to online pestering or being approached by a sexual predator,
some victims yet blame themselves. This gives the conclusion that a female-focused orientation on
privacy in cyberspace is indispensable because only with such a view can lawmakers set about to
appraise how the advent of the personal computer and global system, conjoint with enhanced
opportunity for women, has taken the privacy quandary

Autonomy and Decision-making Capacity

Here comes the necessity of autonomy and decision-making capacity of women. Feminism is
generally defined as a belief in the equal appreciating of all individuals and a hope of societal,
monetary, and civil fairness for all people. The prominence is customarily on equivalence for women,
since precisely women have played subservient roles to men. Autonomy is formerly a Greek word
meaning sovereignty or self-governance. Personal autonomy has conventionally been demarcated as
the aptitude to govern oneself, and resolutions by monitoring one’s personal possessions and material
for personal use. Lately, feminists have assimilated the belief of autonomy. Some have contended that
enunciating the setting of autonomous choice is indispensable to understanding gender supremacy and
interrelated notions (for instance, objectification). The challenge facing feminist theorists therefore is
to re-evaluate autonomy from a feminist viewpoint. The term “relational autonomy” is frequently used
to denote to reconceptualization of the conception of autonomy to contrast feminist versions with
those that presume atomistic ideas of the self. However, the fact is that if opportunities are crucial in
order that people realize their full capabilities, what is the extent to which women are distanced from
this goal through a rejection of due diligence by the state. Empowerment will ensue by hovering
alertness of the issues associated with cyber crime and educating people on best practices and the right
yields and technologies to thwart becoming a victim.
Undoubtedly, women’s decision-making independence is an element of women’s standing that
recounts to their talent to bind material received in making conclusions about their private concerns
and the apprehensions of people who are close to them. People should build occasions for the booming
of the individual. Prerequisites for the self-realization of the autonomous individual are a liberal
democracy and a multicultural society, where everybody can live in relation to his or her preferred
model of the virtuous life. The converse is also real: a democratic society presumes an autonomous
individual who can govern what institutes the upright for him or herself and to indicate the means of
accomplishing this. However, one should not only be capable to conclude what is worthy for oneself,
but also the mutual good we all share. Mutual paybacks – security, concord, order, and righteousness –
relate to all members of society and their survival shall be determined by on mutual benefit. The
problem is: how the collective virtuousness should be distinct, as there are all sorts of impediments
standing in the mode of accomplishing it, such as predisposed interests and constant competition about
limited goods. There are also variances in the level of individuals’ capabilities to partake in pondering
Social Media: Privacy and Autonomy of Women 101

on what should be implicit as the collective benefit. The concern is not only national, but
transcontinental, thus the initiative should be universal.

Way Forward
The need for a review of the law in this area has become more pressing than ever. While the
overall crime rate has fallen, we have seen a steady increase in the number of sexual offences recorded.
Whether this is due to a greater readiness to report sexual offences than to an increase in crime
actually committed is not entirely clear. What is clear though is that, it is timely to take stock of our
legislative response in dealing with sexual crimes. To maximize the benefits of information and
communication technology, the citizens need to be protected from cyber crimes. The rights-based
approach pays special attention to the most vulnerable groups, which include women and children.
The question is how far our country’s cyber security plays a positive party to curb the offences against
women specifically. There are various websites that involve in commercialization of child
pornography and other unsolicited activities. Unless the victim goes and do complain, such websites
are never scrutinized or come under the purview of investigation. The social networking sites wash off
their hands by stating that personal outputs, pictures, and videos are matters of individuals’ ownership.
Plus, Social Networking sites privacy policy explicitly states that to protect them from abuse,
individuals should learn not to make them accessible to everyone. In this regard, strict statutory laws
need to be passed by the Legislators bearing in mind the involvement of netizens (an entity or person
actively involved in online communities and a user of the Internet).
Unlike the solitary statute that deals with Information Technology crimes in India, other
developed nations have various legislations addressing the data communication, storage, child
pornography, electronic records and data privacy in separate Acts and Rules giving drive in the
particular area focused in the Act. Hence, it can be observed that the prevailing laws in India are
insufficient and those have to be modified to match with the ongoing malicious attacks against women
specifically. What we require is a proper legislation to ensure data protection and privacy. A proper
legislation on data protection would entrust the confidential data or users’ confidential information and
personal data.
Media can play its role by broadcasting information campaign. Schools can have campaigns to
boost awareness. Once parents are teachers are educated regarding the dangers of cyber crime and how
to deter them, they can able to protect their children. After all, State should ensure complete justice to
the victims of cyber crimes by way of compensatory remedy and offenders to be punished with highest
type of punishment so that it will act as a deterrent for committing cyber crimes in the future.