SCHOOL OF SCIENCE AND HUMANITIES

DEPARTMENT OF VISUAL COMMUNICATION

UNIT – I – Media Law and Ethics – SVCA1502

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 I. DEFINE ETHICS & MORAL DEVELOPMENT

Introduction
Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that involves systematizing,
defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior.

The basic concepts and fundamental principles of right human conduct. The branch of
philosophy that defines what is good for the individual and for society and establishes the
nature of obligations, or duties, that people owe themselves and one another. In modern society,
ethics define how individuals, professionals, and corporations choose to interact with one
another.Most societies share certain features in their ethical codes, such as forbidding murder,
bodily injury, and attacks on personal honor and reputation.

In modern societies, the systems of law and public justice are closely related to ethics in that
they determine and enforce definite rights and duties. They also attempt to repress and punish
deviations from these standards.

What is ethics?

Ethics is a system of moral principles. Ethics is concerned with what is good for
individuals and society and is also described as moral philosophy. The word ethics is
derived from the Greek word ethos, which means "character”. The term is derived from
the Greek word ethos which can mean custom, habit, character or disposition. Ethics covers
the following dilemmas:
• how to live a good life
• our rights and responsibilities
• the language of right and wrong
• Moral decisions - what is good and bad?

Our concepts of ethics have been derived from religions, philosophies and cultures. They infuse
debates on topics like abortion, human rights and professional conduct. It is the study of right
and wrong in human endeavours.
Ethics is two things.
First, ethics refers to well-founded standards of right and wrong that prescribe what
humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society, fairness,
or specific virtues. Ethics, for example, refers to those standards that impose the reasonable
obligations to refrain from rape, stealing, murder, assault, slander, and fraud.
Secondly, ethics refers to the study and development of one's ethical standards. As
mentioned above, feelings, laws, and social norms can deviate from what is ethical.

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Differentiate Ethics and Moral

Moral: Individualized code of right and wrong. Morals indicate their practice.The first
indicates a person's comprehension of morality and his capacity to put it into practice. Moral
in Latin word mores, which means "customs."

Ethics: Standardized code of right and wrong .

Both define what is considered acceptable behavior for the individual or the group.

Value: is defined as the principles and ideals, which helps them in making the judgment of
what is more important. A Value is something related to a particular culture that is known as
culturally accepted norms.

Ethics Vs Law
Ethics: Standards or codes of behavior expected of an individual by a group.
Law: System of rules that tell us what we can and cannot do
- Laws are enforced by a set of institutions
- Legal acts conform to the law
- Moral acts conform to what an individual believes is the right belief of right and wrong

Why Media Ethics?

Journalism is a social practice. Various Media (Plural of Medium) of Mass communication –
print, radio, TV, Cinema & interact, reach out to large no.of people. The word
‗mass‘ usually has a negative class connotation or image – hence the frequent reference to the
proverbial unwashed masses, ignorant uneducated, poor and common mass. Sourcing of
information while presenting news report on gender crimes and natural disaster/calamities.

While reporting news, explaining facts analyzing information, historical, social journalists
have to aware of their audience & accordingly to language and tone appropriate, proper &
relevant. Ethics is such an important area of concern because it views humans as ‘being
inextricable from society and social interaction should be governed by mutual
consideration and respect. Journalism is concerned with promoting ethically based on
decision making and behavior.

BRANCHES OF ETHICS: -

Ethics is a branch of philosophy that attempts to help us understand which ways of life are
worth following and which actions are right or wrong. The discipline of ethics has branches:
normative ethics, meta-ethics, descriptive and applied ethics.

a. Descriptive Ethics

The category of descriptive ethics is the easiest to understand-it simply involves describing
how people behave and/or what sort of moral standards they claim to follow. Descriptive

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ethics will include research from fields of anthropology, psychology, sociology and history in
order to determine what people do or have believed about moral forms. Descriptive ethics,
also known as comparative ethics, is the study of people's beliefs about morality.

Descriptive ethics is sometimes referred to as Comparative ethics because so much activity can
involve comparing ethical systems: comparing the ethics of the past to present, comparing the
ethics of one society to another and comparing the ethics which people claim to follow with
actual rules of conduct which do describe their actions. It simply involves describing how
people behave and what sorts of moral standards they claim to follow.

b. Meta Ethics

Meta ethics investigates where our ethical principles come from, and what they mean.
(“meta” means above or about). Are they merely social inventions? Do they involve more
than expressions of our individual emotions? It is a philosophical study of the meaning, nature
and methodology of moral judgments and terms, relations between various normative systems
(e.g., morality, religion, law, custom, aesthetics, the requirements of carefulness, and the
judgments of taste), etc. Meta ethics searches for the origins or causes of right and wrong.

For example, the question of the objectivity or subjective of moral judgments and the problem
of the logical relation between moral beliefs and factual beliefs are not directly concerned with
the content of any particular form of moral life, but with the general logical rules
of any moral argument, whatever it advocates or condemns, must be. It doesn‘t ask or make
judgment about what types of action are moral and immoral; rather, it asks questions like:

• Does morality depend on what we believe about it, or is it independent of our beliefs?
• Does morality depend on what God commands?

c. Normative Ethics

Takes on the task of arriving at moral standards that regulate right and wrong conduct. This
may involve articulating the good habits that we should acquire, the duties that we should
follow, or the consequences of our behavior on others. Normative ethics is the branch of
ethics that asks general questions about the morality of behavior.

Normative ethics is concerned with classifying actions as right and wrong without bias and that
tries to answer general questions about how we should behave, how we ought to act. In this
area of ethics, you‘ll find claims like the following:

• If doing x will benefit someone without harming anyone else, then it is morally right
for you to do x.

Other Normative ethical theories are:

Deontological Ethics
• Certain actions are right or wrong in themselves (intrinsically right / wrong)

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regardless of the consequences.

• It looks at the intention of the person performing the act.

• Acts are intrinsically right or wrong because of some absolute law, perhaps laid down
by God, or because of a duty or obligation

Deontological Example• A father steals food in order to feed his starving family.• How
would a deontological thinker justify this action?• Natural Law

Deontology comes from Greek 'deontos' which means duty, obligation, and 'logos' which
stands for knowledge, science. Deontology is the science that studies the moral
obligations, its nature and its origins.

Jeremy Bentham was the first who used the term 'deontology' in his writing 'Deontology or
Science of Morality' published in 1834. But, the founder of this branch is considered Immanuel
Kant, German philosopher, one of the greatest thinkers from the Age of Enlightenment.
The morality of human actions is independent from feelings or the heart desires. Feelings
and actions caused by natural instincts can't be the foundation of moral actions, because these
can't obey the mind. He says that the value of our actions can't be measured by the obtained
results or by their consequences, because these things might be very different from what the
mind had initially anticipated. Duty is a commandment that must be respected in any
empiric circumstances.

Teleological Ethics

Teleological ethics was founded on the basis of Utilitarianism Ideology. The doctrine of
Utilitarianism considers the consequences of that action as the main criteria for an action,
therefore, if an action brings satisfactory results than the action is moral. Jeremy Bentham
(1748-1832) was a British philosopher, jurist and social reformer. He classifies an action (as
being good or wrong) after its benefit. The greatest goal is to achieve the greatest happiness for
as many people as possible. He sustained that all human beings are motivated only by the desire
of obtaining pleasure and avoiding pain.

Teleology or consequentialism is referred to as results-oriented ethics. It focuses on the

purpose of each action and whether there is an intention or meaning for the action. It deals with
the consequences of an action. It involves examining past experiences in order to figure out the
results of present actions.
An example of which is utilitarianism which is also referred to as the greatest happiness
principle. It measures how much overall pleasure can be derived from a certain action and how
much pain is averted.

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Concerned with the END or CONSEQUENCES of an action to decide if it is right or wrong.
It is also called CONSEQUENTIALISM

• ‗Telos‘ = end, goal, purpose in Greek.

• If the consequence of my action is pain and suffering, then the action is .....
• If the consequence of my action is happiness and love, then the action is .....

Teleological Example• A father steals food in order to feed his starving family.• How
would a teleological thinker justify this action?• Utilitarianism• Situation Ethics
d. Applied Ethics

Applied ethics is the branch of ethics that asks relatively concrete questions about the
morality of specific actions and policies. It involves examining specific controversial
issues, such as abortion, infanticide, animal rights, environmental concerns,
homosexuality, capital punishment, or nuclear war. By using the conceptual tools of Meta
ethics and Normative ethics, discussions in applied ethics try to resolve these controversial
issues.

For example, the issue of abortion is an applied ethical topic since it involves a specific type
of controversial behavior. But it also depends on more general normative principles, such as
the right of self-rule and the right to life, which are litmus tests for determining the morality of
that procedure. The issue also rests on metaethical issues such as, ―where do rights come from?‖
and
―what kinds of beings have rights?‖ These are claims about what sort of behavior is morally
permissible in general. They are also rules you can use to help you decide what the right thing
to do is in any given situation.

The following branches focus on various issues of applied ethics:

• Medical ethics (euthanasia, abortion, human cloning, genetic engineering, fair

distribution of prescription drugs and medical treatment etc. For example, it‘s wrong for doctors
to deceive their patients; passive euthanasia is sometimes permissible)

• Business ethics (corporate responsibility; rights and obligations of employees; diversity and
discrimination etc. For example, lying and deception is permissible in business contexts)

• Legal ethics (responsibilities of individuals working in the criminal justice system)

• Environmental ethics (it‘s morally wrong to exterminate rare species of animals and plants;
raising animals in factory farms is morally wrong)
ETHICAL PHILOSOPHIES
A person‘s philosophical orientation can also determine how he/she acts in a specific
situation.

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Philosophers say – 3 basic values orientations are:

1. Absolutist ethics
2. Antinomian or existentialist
3. Situation ethics
1. Absolutist Ethics:
• Holds that there is a fixed set of principles or laws, from which there should be no
deviation.
• They believe every decision is either ―wrong‖ regardless of consequence.
• For them if it is wrong to live, it always is wrong to live.
• If murder asks victim is in absolutist could not live to save a life.
• If action right, does not matter whether afraid in killed. Some consequence irrelevant.
• Absolutist concerned only with event in news worthy.
• If interesting, finely, significant it is he reported, regardless of consequence.
• It is attractive to journalist need full disclosure.
• They believe, publishing, without fear of one‘s group‘s interest in highest ethical
principle.
2. Antinomian or Existentialist ethics:

➢ Rejects all rules and in effect all ethics.

➢ Means against law.
➢ Choices one made without a prescribed value system.
➢ Decide on basis of intermediate rational choice.
➢ Journalist not concerned with motives or consequences.
➢ One some occasions would not be bothered by doing it.
➢ To them every situation is different.
➢ Not preparation is required.

➢ Some journalist feels antiethical to this up bringing with responsible press.

➢ Principle that press has responsibility to reader implies concern from consequence
that antinomian do that have.
3. Situation Ethics:

➢ Between two extremes of antinomian & absolution lie on philosophy (i.e) Situation
Ethics.
➢ Their decisions are based on what would cause the least harm or most good.
➢ Situationist knows, understands & accepts the ethical maxims of community and his
heritage & weighs them carefully before making a decision. E.g. situanist most likely
believe their lying is unethical if murderer asks where his intended victim is a situationist
would lie to save a life.
➢ They would do what is best for people charge no. of people.
➢ Unlike absolutist, the situationist is always concerned with human consequences.
➢ Making an ethical decision is often not an easy matter for situationist.

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 ➢ What is clearly unethical is not to decide not to decide is to make decisions.

4. PRINCIPLES OF MEDIA ETHICS

Ten ethical principles

1. Define a set of values

2. Tell the truth

3. Respect Human dignity

4. Recognize the complexity of human nature

5. Be distrustful of unchecked power

6. Foster a diversity of views

7. Challenge “group think”

8. Take time to listen and to think.

9. Encourage criticism and self-examination

10. Correct Mistakes

ETHICAL DILEMMAS:

Ethical problems tend to came in following categories

➢ Payola
➢ Plagiarism
➢ Conflict of interest
➢ Withholding information
➢ Deceit
➢ Invasion of privacy
1. Payola:
o The term is used when money or gifts are given expectation of favorable coverage from
journalist.
❖ News business
❖ Pernicious practice of accepting envelopes containing gift coupons by press reporters in
India at press conferences. It is called as envelope journalists. This diminishes self esteem of
journalist and credibility of press. Encourage envelope journalism by paying journalist wages
(i.e.) forced to be final creatively unethical means to augment their salary.
❖ Cheque book journalism- The reporters are hired or they sell the story for highest bidding.
❖ As it happens in case of veerapan smuggler. Tamil periodical claimed that it had hined

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reporter to cover their story but the reporter denied. But he sold the story to English fortnightly
(it became an issue)
❖ Complaints were made to PCI but PCI (Press council of India) dismissed the complaints.
Truth never came out.
❖ Sports promoters, attracts reporters from around the country to their events. Reporters
justify trips (airline inaugurating flights of 10 invite media representative to take 1st flight free
in seek favorable coverage in travel. Premiere show, interview , and parties with stars – often
to pay all expensive of reporters

2) Plagiarism

➢ Taking another‘s words and representing them as their own

➢ Passing off writings or ideas of another one‘s own without crediting the source
➢ It is not only unethical it is illegal. Event is news story cannot be copyrighted. Journalist can
rewrite article without violating the law.
➢ A survey was conducted by ethics committee of American society of newspapers. Editors
in USA in 1986 on 235 editors (1 out of 6) / encountered plagiarism in last 3 years in
newspapers.

Plagiarism may be in the following:

• Taking materials from your own newspapers it is someone‘s work. Putting materials in
your own words.
• Using materials from other publication (electronic data available )
• Using material verbation from news agency ( forming news lines from news agency
reports)
• Using news release verbation
• Using work of fellow reporters
• Using old stories over again ( readers reading recycled materials )

3) Conflict of interest:
➢ Closely related to payola
➢ Reporter receives material benefit but in conflict of interest the benefits are intangible.
➢ Conflict involves material benefits.
➢ (1)E.g. can a member of either congress or B.J.P. party cover the political beat?
➢ (2) Many newspaper do not permit the editorial employees to make editorial decision
about people they are related to by blood or marriage.

5. Withholding information:

➢ Reporters & editors make decisions about withholding information.

➢ Reporters take most of decision based on the criteria of news value.
➢ News is finely, interesting & important.
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➢ Withholding the name of rape victims. Use of pictures carefully because it is powerful.
➢ Picture of body- picture of faces of dead people if they are not local(accepted by readers)

6. Deceit ( dishonesty /cheating):

➢ Ethical questions involve reporting techniques that might deceive readers source or those
under investigation
➢ Make then believe that the story in accurate and fair
➢ Picking up quotes for newspaper clippings and recycling it, if it finely present in right
context.
➢ Use of words to color the story such as ―claim‖ for ―says‖ ―demands‖ for ―asks‖

7. Invasion of privacy:
Public generally feel that journalists often simply run over people private life. Invasion of
privacy is violation of people‘s right to left alone. A reporter many under invasion of privacy
suit under following circumstances:

➢ Reporter physically intrude into private area to get the story/ picture
➢ Reporter publishes the story or photograph about someone that is false but not
defamatory.
➢ Right to privacy is in right to life and liberty guaranteed to the citizen of this country by
article 21
➢ A citizen has right to safeguard the privacy of his own, his family, marriage, procreation,
motherhood, childbearing and education.

ETHICAL COMMUNICATION

Understanding can best be achieved by examining any ethical situation from the perspective
of the following communication process:

―Moral agent‖ (communicators) with particular motive commits an act either verbal or non-
verbal with specific context directed at a particular individual or audience usually with some
consequence.

Moral agent Motive – Act – Verbal/ Non- verbal – specific context –individual /audience -
consequence

➢ Moral agent: who makes ethical judgments, regardless acting on their own violation. All
communicators become moral agents when they confront the ethical dilemmas of their
professions and must bear full responsibility of their action. Understanding role of moral agent
is essential because ethical standards often vary according to social roads. For eg, most
reporters and editors because of their roles as agents for the public, could not in good
conscience become politically active because to do so would compromise their independence
➢ Ethical decisions are always made within specific context, which includes political, social,

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cultural climate. Although context does not necessarily determine the outcome of an ethical
judgement, it exerts an influence that cannot be ignored .

➢ Examine the motives of moral agent, because good motives can sometime be used to justify
what appears to be an unethical act. E.g., reporters may be deception to uncover governmental
corruption, a journalistic techniques most of willing to tolerate in the name of public good.

➢ The act is behavioral component of communication process. It draws our attention to the
action of others and may lead us to describe their actions as either ethical or unethical. Thus
act may be verbal when a reporter lies to a news source, or non-verbal as when advertiser omits
product information vital to inform the customer choice.

➢ An ethical situation should also be evaluated in terms of moral agent‘s relationship to

individual or audience. Most directly they are affected by ethical judgement. E.g., a magazine
that appeals to a sophisticated audience might feel comfortable including a quote containing
offensive language, where as a local community newspaper might sanitize such a quote.

➢ Ethical judgement produce consequence either positive or negative- for both moral agent
and others who may touch ad by agents actions sometimes these consequence are instantaneous
and unambiguous as when a newspaper reader complain about a graphic photo of charred
bodies on the papers front page. Moral agents could know the consequence in advance and act
accordingly to these consequence are either unanticipated or diverge from exception of moral
agents.

Formation of ethical values & attitudes:

By what factor influence our moral development – answer to this question lies understanding
of how ethical values & attitudes are formed.

DEFINING VALUES & ATTITUDES:

Autonomy, justice & dignity of human life are examples of values that are important to large
segments of society.

➢ Objectivity & fairness values – practice of journalism

➢ Trust, integrity & honesty are cherished values for any ethical public relations practitioners.
➢ Values are building blocks of attitudes (i.e) ―learned emotional intellectual & behavioral
responses to persons, things & events.
➢ Contrarily, attitudes of those who believe in a ‗right to live with dignity‘ are based on such
underlying values as individual autonomy & right to quality of life.
➢ Greeks recognized importance of attitudes, many writer think, three components – the
affective, the cognitive & behavioral.
➢ Affective component of an attitude is emotional side of our beliefs about situations. It

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consists of our positive or negative feelings towards people or events.
➢ Cognitive components are intellectual side of an attitude. It consists of what moral agent
believes, knows, or reason about the person, thing or event.
➢ Behavioral component of an attitude relates to the individual pre – disposition to
respond.
➢ When we speak of ethical conduct or behavior we are referring to moral action reflecting
the affection (emotional) & cognitive (rational) components of moral agents attitude about
situations.
➢ Either of these dominates the situation but true moral learning taken into both feeling &
beliefs.
➢ Editor publishes rape victims name is never easy one – many paper against to it – emotional
attitude create compassion & sympathy on victims.

SOURCES OF VALUES & ATTITUDE:

Four influential sources directly affect our function of values & attitudes are

1. Family
2. Peer group
3. Role model
4. Societal institutions

Extend to which each of these is responsible for our moral behavior depends on unique
circumstances of each individual.

Parents: provide first & important behavioral model for children. They are primarily
influence in instilling a conscience, a sense of right & wrong. Some values & attitude are
learned by a child through instruction & discipline, but others are acquired through imitating
or modeling, parental behavior. Eg. Parents who blame on others for their short comings &
difficulties implant in their children, the misguided belief that we are not responsible for our
own actions.
➢ Mother writes letter an excuse to teacher saying ―Johnny was sick yesterday‖ sends to
Johnny lying is permissible.
➢ Child always sees the behavior of parents that sends a message & it is socially acceptable
in certain situation.
➢ At this stage child generally accepts certain ideas advanced by their parents but as
incapable of time moral reasoning.

Peer groups:

Important influence is moral development especially any one adolescence.

➢ Significant peer group encountered in neighborhood, schools, churches & working

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environment.
➢ Some group memberships, such as participation in religious organization can reinforce an
individual‘s value system.

Role models:
➢ Individual who we admire respect & wish to emulate.
➢ They reach righteousness or wickedness (drug dealer rich as youth admire)
➢ Children & adolescence become psychological involved with role model & assumes this
ideas, attitudes & conducts.
➢ Sometimes role models are ordinary people who exert a subtle influence on those with
whom they come in contact.

Societal institutions: Family, peer groups & role models all exerts powerful &
demonstrable influences on our sense of ethics.
➢ Institutions have a profound impact on their own members and set the ethical tone for their
conduct.
➢ Within each organization there is a moral culture, reflected both in written policies & the
examples set by top management that inspires the ethical behavior of its members.
➢ Institutions also have a profound influence on the ethical values & attitudes of societal
members because of the pivotal role they play in the dynamics of any culture.

Ethics and Society

Importance of Ethics in Society

● Various steps for ethics to improve society as a whole through laws and regulation
● Ethics guides us like a map
● Help to become a better human being
● Ethics is about feeling for others
● Ethical Values create integrity
● Guides people act properly in varied situation
● Ethics can cultivate strong teamwork and productivity in workplace
● Helps to avoid Conflicts
● Personal enrichment and growth depend on the ability to redefine ethical values

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 SCHOOL OF SCIENCE AND HUMANITIES
DEPARTMENT OF VISUAL COMMUNICATION

UNIT – II – Media Law and Ethics – SVCA1502

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 II. MEDIA LAW AND ETHICS
1. INDIAN CONSTITUTION:
The Indian Constitution, the longest of any sovereign nation in the world, provides a
comprehensive framework to guide and govern the country, keeping in view her social, cultural
and religious diversity. A distinctive document with many extraordinary features, the
Constitution of India is the longest written constitution of any sovereign nation in the world.
The original text of the Constitution contained 395 articles in 22 parts and eight schedules. It
came into effect on January 26, 1950, the day that India celebrates each year as the Republic
Day. The number of articles has since increased to 448 due to 100 amendments.
The Constitution was framed by the Constituent Assembly of India, established by the
members of the provincial assemblies elected by the people of India. Dr BR Ambedkar, the
chairman of its Drafting Committee, is considered the chief architect of the Indian Constitution
which provides a comprehensive and dynamic framework.
The preamble to the Constitution declares India to be a Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic
Republic and a welfare state committed to secure justice, liberty and equality for the people
and for promoting fraternity, dignity of the individual and unity and integrity of the nation.
2. FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS AND DUTIES:
Fundamental rights and duties are the basic rights of an Indian Citizen in the Indian
Constitution. These fundamental duties and rights apply to all the citizens of the country
irrespective of their religion, gender, caste, race, etc. Part III of the Indian constitution contains
the list of fundamental rights.
The Constitution vests many fundamental rights in citizens. These are
(i) Right to Equality,
(ii) Right to Freedom
(iii) Right against Exploitation
(iv) Right to Freedom of Religion
(v) Cultural and Educational Rights and
(vi) Right to Constitutional Remedies.

These rights are justiciable and an individual can move the Supreme Court or the High
Courts if there is an encroachment on any of these rights. However, Fundamental Rights in
India are not absolute. Reasonable restrictions can be imposed. By 42nd Amendment in
1976, fundaments duties were added in the Constitution to remind people that while
enjoying their right as citizens, they should perform their duties for rights and duties are
correlative.
1. Articles 14-18: Right to Equality

These articles talk about equal rights for all the citizens of the country irrespective of their
caste, class, creed, gender, place of birth, or race. It says that there shall be equal opportunities
with regard to employment and other aspects.

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These articles also work towards the abolition of orthodox practices that have been taking place
in the country like, untouchability, etc.

2. Articles 19-22: Right to Freedom

This is one of the most vital rights in the country whose foundation is based on Democracy.
The constitution of India says that the citizens of the country have freedom in various regards.
The freedom rights in the Indian Constitution include freedoms of -:

1. Expression
2. Speech
3. Assembly without arms
4. Association
5. Practicing any profession
6. Residing in any part of the Country
However, these rights are subjective. This further implies that the state has the right to impose
restrictions on these rights depending upon the situation.

3. Articles 23-24: Right against Exploitation

These articles talk about the exploitation of humans and their rights. It prohibits any activities
that encourage child labor, human trafficking, and other forms of forced labor. This article also
prevents the state from imposing any compulsory service for public purposes.

Also, while making such compulsions, the state shall not discriminate against anyone on the
basis of caste, creed, gender, etc.

4. Articles 25-28: Right to Freedom of Religion

India, being a secular country, consists of people from varied religions and faiths and therefore,
it becomes of utmost importance that we and the constitution of Indian support freedom of
religion. Under these articles, the state can be prevented from making the laws that

1. Might be associated with a specific religious practice.

2. Opening Hindu religious institutions of a public character.

5. Articles 29-30: Cultural and Educational Rights

These are the articles that work towards protecting the rights of cultural, religious, and
linguistic minorities by aiding them to preserve their heritage and culture. The state is supposed
to have no official religion.

These articles grant all the citizens of the country the right to worship any religion of their
choice. Under these articles, the state does not hold the right to discriminate against any
educational institution on the basis of it being a minority-run institution.

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6. Articles 30-35: Right to Constitutional Remedies

These articles bind all the previously mentioned as this right makes sure that all the other
fundamental rights are not being violated in any case. If any citizen of the country feels that
their rights are being violated, they have the right to approach the court and demand justice.

Under these articles, the supreme court also holds the power of issuing writs against activity
that it might find unsuitable.

Fundamental Duties:
Fundamental duties are the ones that are recognized as moral obligations the citizens are
expected to perform. The article 51A under Part IVA of the constitution of India speaks of the
fundamental duties.
3. Defamation:
Defamation, in law, attacking another’s reputation by a false publication (communication to a
third party) tending to bring the person into disrepute. The concept is an elusive one and is
limited in its varieties only by human inventiveness.
Defamation has been defined under Section 499 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) as whoever,
by words either spoken or intended to be read, or by signs or by visible representations, makes
or publishes any imputation concerning any person intending to harm, or knowing or having
reason to believe that such imputation will harm, the reputation of such person is said to
defame that person.
Libel and slander are the legal subcategories of defamation. Generally speaking, libel is
defamation in written words, pictures, or any other visual symbols in a print or electronic
(online or Internet-based) medium. Slander is spoken defamation.
Usually, liability for a defamation falls on everyone involved in its publication whose
participation relates to content. Thus, editors, managers, and even owners are responsible for
libelous publications by their newspapers.
4. Contempt of Court:
Contempt is nothing but lowering down prestige of the court. The objective of the contempt of
court is basically to maintain the essence of respect towards court. Contempt is defined under
section 2 of the contempt of courts Act 1971. The meaning of contempt is willful disobedience
to or open disrespect of a court or judge. Contempt means lack of respect or reverence for
something.
Types of Contempt

• Civil
• Criminal
Civil contempt means willful disobedience to any judgement, decree, direction, order, writ or
other process of a court or willful breach of an undertaking given to a court.

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Criminal Contempt means the publication (whether by words, spoken, written or by signs or
by visible representations, or otherwise) of any matter or doing of any other act whatsoever
which scandalizes, prejudices or interferes the administration of justice in any other manner.

• Exception to contempt
• Innocent Publications
• Fair Comments/ Criticism

PUNISHMENT:
Simple imprisonment upto six months and or fine. Where the contempt of court is
committed by a company each person responsible for running that company will be
liable for punishment.

EXEMPTION:
If the accused apologizes to the satisfaction of the court, the person may be discharged
or punishment may be remitted

5. SEDITION I

Section 124 of IPC defines sedition as an act that brings or attempts to bring into hatred
or contempt either by words spoken or written or by sign or otherwise.

Sedition as per Section 124-A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) reads as, “whoever, by
words, either spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or
otherwise, brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts
to excite disaffection towards, the Government established by law in [India], shall
be punished with [imprisonment for life], to which fine may be added, or with
imprisonment which may extend to three years, to which fine may be added, or with
fine.”

● Importance of Sedition Law

• To maintain national integrity and security
• To create a sense of fear among the anti-national groups.
• To maintain public order
• Balance freedom of expression with the collective national interest.
• To prevent damage to the public property from mobs.

● Drawbacks of Sedition Law

• It is often used as a tool to oppress the voice of dissent.
• Party in power uses this as a weapon to curb criticism of the government.
• Sometimes it neglects the fundamental rights given by the constitution.
• Misguided individuals are wrongly termed as Antinational, even if they are just anti-
government.
• To target certain minority groups to prove their nationalism.

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 • Its definition is very broader.

6. Obscenity and Blasphemy in the Indian Context

Blasphemy is an attack on God, obscenity is an attack on moral values and sedition is an attack
on the state. All three are called criminal libels, which mean that cases are taken through the
criminal court system.
Blasphemy If you say things about religion in such a manner that people become so angry they
break the law, then you could be prosecuted for blasphemy. Blasphemy used to be dangerous
because it could - and did - lead to civil strife and threatened the stability of the state. Such a
reaction is less likely in modern democratic countries. Words would only be blasphemous
today if they were used in such a strong way that they were likely to shock or outrage the
feelings of most Christians/Muslims/Hindus in a community.
Blasphemy was a very serious crime, and many people were executed for saying things critical
of the state religion. However, over the centuries the situation has changed. Today under
common law, the prosecution of anyone for blasphemy depends more on how a thing is said
rather than on what is said.
Taslima Nasreen's book, Lajja, was banned after a four over its contents which were said to
hurt Muslim sentiments. Earlier, in 1989, India was among the first countries to ban the sale of
Salman Rushdie's Satanic Verses, after Iran's Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini issued ufatwa
(directive) ordering Muslims to kill Rushdie.
7. Obscenity
Societies have always had problems defining obscenity. Although it is defined as anything
which offends people's decency or modesty, obscenity is usually limited to sex or what people
might regard as foul language. The problem is that material which offends some people (such
as a photograph of the sex act) does not offend others. And material which is acceptable in one
situation (such as a picture of the sex act in a medical textbook) is not acceptable elsewhere
(such as the same picture in a family newspaper).
Definition: According to the law in India, anything that is lascivious or appeals to the prurient
interest or if its effect is to deprave and corrupt persons would be considered to be obscene‘.

Explanations: 

Lascivious: is something that tends to excite lust.

 Appeals to: in this context, means ―arouses interest‖.

 Prurient interest: is characterized by lustful thoughts.

 Effect: means to produce or cause some change or event.

 Tend to deprave and corrupt: in the context of this section means ―to lead someone to
become morally bad. Any work that depicts or describes sexual conduct in a patently offensive
way.

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Legally, the term obscenity‗is referred to indecent expressions, such as words, images and
actions. Exhibition of an indecent act that leads to general. Corruption of morals amounts to
violation of Indian law. For example, when the famous painter, M.F.Hussain painted Goddess
Saraswati nude, there was considerable public outrage and anger directed at the artist. The
paintings were considered obscene‗by many Hindus while others who viewed it from an
artistic perspective saw nothing wrong with it.2006 dismiss case of bharath matha.
India has resorted to banning books, paintings, films, theatrical performances and television
channels on grounds of obscenity and the need to maintain public decency. The l&B Ministry
banned Sony's satellite channel AXN for two months in January 2007 for airing 'indecent
content' in the form of a programme on the world's sexiest advertisements. in India, publishing
or transmitting obscene information in electronic form is a serious, punishable offence. A
person who is found guilty of this offence is likely to get a jail term for up to five years and a
fine of maximum one lakh rupees.
8. Social Responsibility:
Social responsibility is an ethical framework and suggests that an entity, be it an organization
or individual, has an obligation to act for the benefit of society at large. Social responsibility is
a duty every individual has to perform so as to maintain a balance between the economy and
the ecosystems. The idea of social responsibility has developed as a counter point to
libertarianism. Codes of ethics are encouraged as a self –regulating device to social
responsibility.
Media has certain obligations to society:

• It must show truth, accuracy, objectivity, and balance.

• The media should be free but self regulated (codes of conduct, and ethics)
• The media ownership is a public trust. The journalist is accountable to his audience /
readers.
• The media is pluralistic: diversity of society, various points of view, forum for ideas

9. PRESS COUNCIL OF INDIA AND CODES OF CONDUCT

The press council was set up in November of 1966. In India the Press Council, is a statutory
body. It consists of 28 members. Chairman nominated by the committee made up of the
chairman of the Rajya Sabha, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha and the elected representative of
the council members. Of the 28 members, 13 are nominated In accordance with the procedure
prescribed from among working journalists. Of these 6 are editors of newspapers and 7 are
working journalists. Another 6 represent the interests like those of the owners of big medium
and small newspapers and of news agencies. The speaker of the Lok Sabha nominates 5 MPs.
There also 2 members from the Rajya Sabha. Representation is also provided to specialists in
Law, Education, Literature, Science and Culture. The press council has powers of Civil Court
and can therefore summon witnesses, inspect documents and receive evidence. It also has the
power to admonish and censure any editor or journalists who flouts the standard of journalistic
ethics or public taste. The PCI was established to preserve the freedom of the press and to
maintain and improve the standards of newspapers and news agencies in India. The PCI helps

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newspapers and news agencies maintain their independence while having a general code of
conduct for journalists. The aim of the code is to ensure high professional standards and foster
a sense of the rights and responsibilities of journalists as well as ordinary citizens. The PCI has,
over the years, framed a code of ethics for journalists and governs their conduct.

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 SCHOOL OF SCIENCE AND HUMANITIES

DEPARTMENT OF VISUAL COMMUNICATION

UNIT – III – Media Law and Ethics – SVCA1502

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 III. MEDIA & ETHICAL CHALLENGES

TRUTH AND OBJECTIVITY IN JOURNALISM

Good decision-making depends on people having reliable, accurate facts put in a

meaningful context.

• Journalism, they continue, thus seeks “a practical and functional form of truth.”

• This “journalistic truth” is a process that begins with the professional discipline of
assembling and verifying facts.

• Then journalists try to convey a fair and reliable account of their meaning, subject to
further investigation.

• As citizens encounter an ever-greater flow of data, they have more need – not less –
for suppliers of information dedicated to finding and verifying the news and putting it
in context.

OBJECTIVITY IN JOURNALISM

Objectivity can be defined as a value-neutral projection of reality and therefore objective view
of an event is equally important while constructing social reality.

Objectivity, according to Boyer consists of six elements:

• Balance and even-handedness in presenting different sides of an issue;

• Accuracy and realism of reporting;
• Presentation of all main relevant points;
• Separation of facts from opinion, but treating opinion as relevant;
• minimizing the influence of the writer’s own attitude, opinion or
• involvement; Avoiding slant, rancour or devious purpose (Boyer, 1981, 58(1): P-24-
28)

In order to be objective, newspapers implement various practices to prevent

manipulation of information by giving by-lines, credit line to the sources, by writing explicit
interpretive stories. Nevertheless, objectivity is a virtue in the profession and therefore in public
accountability, journalists will not deviate from it. Because in the profession of journalism,
some newspaper may deviate from it while other newspaper may represent reality as it is. Ryan
commented that objective journalists are accountable to their audiences, to the highest ethical
and professional standards of objective journalism, and, finally, to their employers. They never
assume that employers, not themselves, bear the ultimate responsibility for their behavior
(Ryan, 2007: P-3-22).

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Reporters face a range of ethical issues on a regular basis. Those issues include the following:

• Truthfulness. Journalists need to make a commitment to telling the truth. This includes
not giving false or made-up reports, and telling truthful stories that are not intended to
deceive the audience. Truthfulness requires a commitment not only from the journalist
but also from the organization he or she works for.

• Conflicts of interest. The interests of a corporation that owns a news organization may
sometimes be at odds with the nature of the news being reported. Journalists need to be
careful not only to portray their parent company in an accurate light but also to give no
special favors to companies connected to the organization’s parent company.

• Sensationalism. News organizations sometimes emphasize news that is interesting but

unimportant. This happens when reporters put more effort into attracting and pleasing
an audience than into reporting on the critical issues of the day.

• Authenticity and appropriateness of photographs. Photos can be among the most

controversial media materials, both because of their disturbing content and because they
can be altered with digital editing tools.

CONCENTRATION OF MEDIA OWNERSHIP:

Media Ownership Individuals and groups possessing and exercising relatively

unencumbered rights to distribute messages through the media can influence large audiences
and thereby help shape societal development; conversely, people prevented from so
participating are muted and may be politically ineffectual.

Two important and interrelated factors help determine conditions of access to the
media: the pattern of ownership, which shapes incentives for media use; and the bundle of
rights accompanying ownership, which can modify, or even eliminate, restrictions that could
otherwise inhere in ownership. The bundle of rights and duties is primarily an outcome of law,
but also may be influenced by traditions and ethical precepts adhered to by the owners.

The pattern of media ownership has 4 major constituents: owner characteristics, concentration
of control, cross-ownership and vertical integration.

• Owner Characteristics Owners may be distinguished by the sector in which they reside:
government, private or cooperative. Within each sector additional distinctions can be
made. For example, government comprises 3 levels, each of which can, in principle,
have media holdings. Moreover, managers of government-owned media can have
varying degrees of independence from their proprietors, depending on the goals set for
the media.
• Concentration of Control Concentration refers to the number and size of competing
outlets within a market or audience grouping, eg, newspapers in a community.
Concentration indicates the degree of monopoly power enjoyed by the media owner(s)

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 and hence the owners' power in determining conditions of access within the relevant
market. The "marketplace of ideas" is premised on notions of equitable access to the
media by all segments of society.
• Cross-ownership refers to common control over different media genres (eg, print, film,
electronic). It indicates the extent to which intermedia competition thrives or is
restricted.
• Vertical integration is the extent to which media owners create, select or otherwise
determine messages. It exemplifies the interrelationship between media ownership and
the variable bundle of rights and duties accompanying ownership. The telephone
industry, for instance, historically has been proscribed by law from tampering with the
messages transmitted, and only recently have telephone companies been permitted to
engage in industries originating content. In addition to ownership concentration of the
mass media industry, content provision, packaging and distribution have also „become
a standardized production and marketing process in which the messages communicated
are constrained and directed in both quantity and quality to meet the economic
imperatives of that process. When the control of the flow of information, knowledge,
values and images is concentrated in the hands of those who share the power of the
dominant class, the ruling class will establish what is circulated through the mass media
in order to reproduce the structure of class inequalities from which they benefit.

Media Conglomerates. A conglomerate has a lot of money to put into film production.

• Film Studios

• TV Stations

• Record Labels Magazines

• Newspapers: Books, Internet platforms

• Media Ownership Two or more types of media coming together.

• Media convergence Different elements of a company working together to promote

related products. - Synergy.

• The process by which an increasingly smaller number of companies own most media
outlets. - Concentration of Media ownership.

• A company which produces two or more types of media - Cross Media Ownership.

• A large parent company which owns a range of smaller companies - Conglomerate

• Smaller companies owned by a parent company - Subsidiary

• When the market is dominated by a small number of companies – Oligopoly

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Types of Ownership: There are four major types of ownership of mass media. Chain, cross
media, conglomerate and vertical integration.

• Chain ownership means the same media company owns numerous outlets in a single
medium, a chain of newspaper, a series of radio stations, a string of television stations
or several book publishing companies. Chain ownership in India applies mostly to
newspapers. There are many publishing groups in India which fall into this category
such as the group headed by the Times of India, Hindustan Times, Indian Express,
Statesman, Ananda bazar Patrika, Hindu, Telegraph and living media foundations.

• Cross media ownership is when the same company owns several along with
newspaper, magazines, musical labels, and publishers and so on. cross-media
ownership across the various carriers such as television, radio or print; consolidation,
including vertical integration among media operations of content, carrier and distributor
within a media segment such as television or radio; and market share dominance in a
given geography within each media segment.

• Conglomerate ownership means the ownership of several business one of which a

media business. For example, when a publishing company owns a newspaper along
with chemical, fertilizer, cement rubber or plastics factories, or a liquor brewery or
distillery or a major corporation has controlling shares in a number of media related
business, the pattern is conglomerate. In a conglomerate, there will be interlocking of
directorships, which means the same persons will be director of a media company as
well as of manufacturing industries or financial corporations.

In fact several transport or lorry company directors are directing the destiny of newspaper,
television or film production companies. Their main business will be a high profit industry, but
they run a media company for prestige or to exercise social and political influence on decision
makers in the private or public sector and in the government of the day. They own newspapers,
magazines, radio, cable TV and television channels, to name their key businesses.

• Vertical integration indicates that a media company monopolizes the production of

the ingredients that go into the making of media products. For example a newspaper
publisher may own several hundred areas of forests where the major components of a
newspaper namely wood for newsprints cultivated. Some other newspaper company
may own a factory that produces the bulk of the printing ink or processed used in the
industry.

Certain film companies may own studies or industrial units producing film stocks or even a
chain of theatres where the films are exhibited. If the present trend of cross media,
conglomerate and vertical integration ownership continues, monopolization will result which
will ultimately lead to the phenomenon of suppression not only of media freedom but also of
the unbiased presentation of various points of view. Most media companies in India and abroad
are integrating vertically to sell cross-media, often acquiring or building multimedia platforms.
News Corp’s Star TV India and Sun TV Network Ltd already own DTH and cable distribution

26
platforms. Stars cross-media India operations include television channels, Internet offerings,
radio, mobile entertainment and home video (incidentally, 11 cable distribution companies
provide some 400 television channels in India). Sun Network has 14 TV channels in four states,
cable assets, four magazines, radio stations and two newspapers. In Tamil Nadu, the dominance
of Sun in cable and satellite TV (channels and distribution network) and now in the DTH
market is quite visible. Sun TV and its cable company are known to simply blackout political
telecasts by rival Jaya TV.

Advertising and Social issues:

The causes and effects of advertising show that they are inextricably linked to key social issues.
The issues which often contain important ethical dimensions are gender, ethnicity, health and
environment.

Women:

Across the globe, many advertisements in the past frequently depicted women as home-bound,
helpless and brainless. Commodities like cleaning product, domestic appliances and food
products were aimed at housewives and shown as capable of providing satisfaction and delight
to consumers. Feminists objected to the stereotypical portrayal of women as happy home-
makers who were less competent than men. The activities of feminist groups created awareness
among the public and gender equality became a significant social issue.

Advertising, in seeking to reflect social trends, had to adapt to the changing environment.
Feminists tried to demonstrate that women were independent, capable, intelligent and free-
thinking individuals. However, despite these changes in social attitudes, there is still
considerable evidence of gender stereotyping in advertising. For example, ‘women are locked
in a constant battle with their weight/body shape/hairstyle….have jobs they never do in real
life (like dock work)… chocolate will cause women to immediately fall into the languor of the
opium eater’.

In Indian advertising today, Strands of gender prejudices are still apparent, Dowry, fairness
and beauty, for example, are still the subject of some advertising campaigns. For instance, the
advertisements of the Fair & Lovely cosmetic cream, manufactured by Hindustan Unilever,
have attracted criticism from social activists for indirectly promoting racism as they seem to
encourage users to believe in the desirability of fair skin. The manufacturer, of course, argues
that the cream is nothing but an ‘aspirational product’.

The advertising industry has continuous demonstrated that it is enamored of the notion that sex
sells. Sex has been linked to all commodities including household appliances, soft drinks and
food. Most commonly, sexual imagery is used in advertisements for alcohol, cars, perfumes,
and clothing. Sex in advertising includes nudity (partially or fully) that is obvious as well as
sexual overtones. One explanation for this is that the acquisition of assets-money, power,
property and prestige-has, throughout the history of mankind, been a method of flaunting male
virility. The capacity to acquire many assets is intended to imply this quantity. Therefore,

27
associating a certain product with sex, appeals to one of the most basic principles that govern
the behavior of humanity, namely, survival.

Opinions about sexually explicit advertisements are divided. There are some who believe that
nudity and other gratuitous allusions to sex are obscene. There are other who feel sex sells and,
sometimes, sells rather well. Media codes also warn against obscene content, but as we have
seen, the precise nature of obscenity is often difficult to define.

Men:

Stereotypical male character and male-dominated ideologies are also present in advertising.
Although male stereotypes are not generally oppressive towards men, they can still have a
serious and tangible impact on society as a whole. Stereotyping portrays men as being
impressed by macho behavior, inclined to emulate strong hero types, an often, lazy. Men’s
interests are stereotypically women, beer, gadgets and sports. In India, there is a tendency to
glamorize commodities aimed at men---cars, motorcycles, soft drinks, mobile phones, music
and liquor---by associating the product with sporting activities, stunt and sexual innuendoes.
An advertisement for Thumps Up depicted a man bungee-jumping off a bridge into a river to
catch a bottle of the fizzy drink. It was reported that a person was killed while emulating the
stunt though it was not confirmed if the person had been influenced by the advertisement. In a
Pepsi advertisement, a popular actor drives recklessly through narrow streets, trying to save a
bottle of the soft drink but ends up in the hospital after crashing into a wall.

Advertisements which feature dangerous sports or professional stunts are required to

carry clear warning. When such advertisements are broadcast on television or on the large
screen, a disclaimer is usually placed at the end stating that professional actors & stuntmen
feature in the advertisements & that their actions should not be copied. These words are,
however, flashed across the screen rather quickly, barely giving the viewer time to read what
has been written.

While in the past, women were sexually objectified in advertising, in recent times, men
are also being increasingly depicted as sex objects. According to a survey conducted in 2002
by the University of Wisconsin, men felt insecure & suffered low self –esteem about their
appearance as a consequence of such advertising campaigns.

Race & Ethnicity:

Racial groups have been subjected to stereotyping in two ways in advertising: visibly
& invisibly. In countries with strong ethnic’s diversity like India & the US, there has been an
unfortunate tendency to associate ethnic groups with certain behavioral patterns. The ASCI
does not allow materials which deride race, caste, religion, language, ethnic, or regional
affiliation & nationality. Although not all racial stereotyping is derogatory, race is still a very
sensitive issue & the fact that ethnic groups should at all be stereotyped is soon as a bar to full
social integration. Social segregation can lead, in extreme cases, to communal hatred &/or

28
violence. Any material that is likely to result in hatred &/or violence, or promotes intolerance
is not permitted by the ASCI.

In invisible stereotyping, certain ethnic groups are underrepresented in advertising &

this indirectly results in social segregation. Invisible stereotyping in advertising in ethnically
diverse societies might be tantamount to false representation. Invisible stereotyping can
perhaps be explained by the fact that ethnic or caste minority groups are often the
underprivileged sections of society. Ethnic minorities are often undereducated, low-income
groups. These demographic characteristics mean that the ethnic minorities are less likely to be
targeted by consumerist advertisements which want to attract people who have high disposal
incomes. Invisible stereotyping is an awkward area for advertising codes. It is possible to
restrict & regulate the content of advertisements to guard against prejudice, offence & social
segregation, but it is very difficult, & impracticable, to regulate non-content.

Health:

Some of the earliest advertisements which appeared in newspapers were for medicines
& remedies which made unlikely claims about relieving any manner of symptoms or
complaints. The nature of these early ‘quack’ advertisements caused a certain cynicism among
consumers & led to the passing of the Food & Drug Act, 1906 in the US to regulate the claims
of producers of medicines. In India, a special law was enacted to control advertisements of
medicines – the Drug & Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954.
Advertising codes today place great emphasis on the need for honesty in advertising, which is
also reflected in the provisions of the ASCI.

The need for truthfulness in the media has been considered & explained in some depth.
It should be remembered that less-than-truthful advertisements not only damage the celebrity
of the brand, but also that of the medium through which it is communicated. The media has a
responsibility to ensure the honesty of its content & this extends to advertisements as well.

Health issues are a major concern of consumer’s rights groups. There are several
aspects of advertising which have come under scrutiny for health reasons. The health
implications of the commodity advertised, such as alcohol, cigarettes & junk food, & also the
content or messages of the advertisements have been criticized from time to time.

Drinking:

Campbell (2002) notes that the compelling statistics which demonstrates unequivocally
the dangers of alcohol & tobacco consumption have made health campaigners more vocal. The
figures for India & China – the two most populous countries accounting for roughly 40% of
the world’s population – are higher & could be proportionately comparable to those for the US.

There is a debate about whether alcohol advertising actually promotes & increases
consumption of alcohol. There are concerns that young people are particularly influenced by
advertising & are often the target of alcohol advertisements. Countries, such as the UK, which
have high rates of alcohol –related deaths & alcohol consumption among young people, have
29
codes which regulate the content of alcohol advertisements. Advertisements showing drinking
as the ladder to sexual/social success are deemed highly inappropriate. Some feel that
restrictions are insufficient & restrictions on advertising alcohol at particular times should be
imposed. Advertisers, however, claim that advertising is an essential function of a competitive
market & that its purpose is to aid the battle between rival brands & not to increase overall
consumption.

Even as alcohol advertising continues, one of the ways in which its influence can be
tempered is through counter –advertisements. An advertising campaign for the prevention of
drunk-driving can demonstrate the potentially fatal consequence of irresponsible drinking. It is
plausible that such advertisements might have equal influence as alcohol advertisements if they
were equal in volume.

In India, liquor advertisements are banned. However, advertisers have got around this
restriction by ‘surrogate’ advertisements. Surrogate liquor advertising typically involves
displaying a brand which is most associated with alcohol in a party/night –time environment.
At the end of the advertisements, usually in small text, products like ‘packaging drinking water’
or ‘cassettes & CD’s or even ‘playing cards’ are mentioned. This thinly veiled brand-building
for liquor has recently been questioned by the Indian government. In march 2008, the I & B
Ministry warned that surrogate advertisements would soon be banned & stricter monitoring of
such advertisements would be implemented.

Tobacco:

The dangers of smoking are well known. In India, it is estimated that 700,000 people
die of smoking related disease every year. Tobacco advertisements have faced tighter
restrictions over the last thirty years & in several countries all forms of tobacco advertising
have been banned. In the UK, the Tobacco Advertising & Promotion Act, 2002 put an end to
all forms of public marketing, including advertising, promotions & sponsoring by cigarette &
tobacco companies. The act makes it an offence to produce or publish public advertisements
for British citizens. The internet is a means to overcome bans in specific countries: a country’s
law only extends to its citizenry & activities which take place within its bounds. In a ironical
tragedy, the actor who played the iconographic Marlboro Man-a rugged cowboy used in
advertisements for Marlboro cigarettes- David Mclean, died from lung Cancer.

In 2004, tobacco advertising & sponsorship was banned in India. However, after the
ban was implemented, cigarette branding in Indian films increased threefold. The Burning
Brain Society, an anti-smoking non-government organization, conducted a study which found
that branded tobacco products occurred in 40% of the films made in India since 2004. The head
of the Burning Brain Society commented that ‘Indian Films are being turned into blatant
cigarette commercials’. In 2005, the government considered implementing a blanket ban on all
‘placement’ strategies, which would preclude showing any branded or generic tobacco
products & smoking in films & TV serials.

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 Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss sought to ban on-screen smoking by popular film
stars but was not successful. He also faced considerable resistance to his proposal to make it
mandatory for cigarettes, bidis & gutka manufacturers to print ghastly pictures of diseased
lungs on the packets of their products. The tobacco lobby in India is powerful & influential.
Tobacco cultivation provides a livelihood to thousands of farmers & sales of tobacco products
generate substantial revenues for the union & state government.

Eating Disorders:

Advertising has been criticized at both ends of the scale: for encouraging anorexia on
the one hand, & obesity on the other hand. The charge of increasing anorexia among young
women & girls in particular is leveled across the entire spectrum of advertising. Most
advertisements use women who are slimmer, taller & prettier than the average women. One
survey found that women used in advertising typically weigh less than average women.

Normal women are significantly underrepresented & this trend has been blamed for
fostering low self-esteem & image consciousness among women. Research on advertisements
of toys for girls indicated that half the advertisements made reference to physical attractiveness,
while none of the advertisements of toys for boys did.

Feeding off the desire to be thinner & aiding the process are an array of diet foods &
drinks, as well as dieting schemes. Weight loss programmes depict individual in ‘before’
&’after’ shots portraying the thinner version as being happier.

Some advertising experts feel that junk food & ‘convenience’ food advertisements have
led to increased obesity levels. The increase in the no. of double – income families has led to
the growing demand for commodities of ‘convenience’. Ready-made meals & ‘instant’ food
products proliferate in time-stretched societies. Advertisements for snacks, such as potato
chips, chocolates, fast foods like pizzas & carbonated soft drinks aimed at children have come
under the scanner. In the UK, Ofcom pronounced that the effect of advertising on child obesity
was only modest & rejected calls for a total ban on fast food advertisements. It felt that there
were other contributing factors to childhood obesity like lack of exercise, school policies &
parental demographics. In March 2006, Ofcom noted that a ban on snack food advertisements
during prime time TV would cost channel advertising worth nearly £141 million.

Obesity is becoming a serious health concern in India too, especially among the affluent
as well as the upwardlymobile middle classes. A survey conducted by the All Indian Institute
of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) found that three-quarters of women residing in Delhi were
suffering from abdominal obesity. Obesity – related illness such as diabetes & heart disease
are rapidly increasing in India & AIIMS is predicting ‘disastrous’ consequences. The spread of
obesity in India has been directly linked to the increasing prosperity of the middle classes, who
can afford snack foods. While in Western countries obesity is linked with poverty, in India, it
is associated with prosperity. The fact that obesity exists among the affluent in India means
that advertising has a greater impact on dietary habits given that it primarily targets people with
disposable incomes.

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Environment:

Many people are today worried about environmental degradation & want ecologically
sustainable economic development. As climate change threatens the future of the planet &
evidence points towards human responsibility for much of global warming, there is a call for
responsible consumption. Several products used every day have, over recent years, been found
to be harmful for the environment: plastics, cars, airplanes, petroleum products & refrigerators
are a few such products. Leo Hickman, writing for “The Guardian”, laments the absence of
environmental responsibility as a provision in advertising standard codes.

In India, an advertisement for Ford Endeavour shows the large vehicle gliding over
icecaps leaving in its wake track marks on melting ice & two polar bears. Ironically, icecaps
melting due to climate change & their inhabitants, polar bears, have become potent symbols of
global warming. Hickman queries: ‘could Ford have chosen a more inappropriate setting to sell
their wares?’ The advertisements seem particularly crude considering how uneconomical the
vehicle is: its mileage is 7.5 km per litre in traffic conditions compared to the 22 km per litre
that will be achieved by the Tata Nano car. Even more insensitive was an advertisement for
Ford Zetec in the UK, which stated: ‘more people would prefer a hot climate’.

In India, concern has been expressed over the veracity of claims of eco-friendly
products in advertising. Investigations into such claims by Jaipur – based civil society
organization Consumer Unity & Trust Society (CUTS) revealed that several claims made by
leading manufactures were misleading. CUTS concluded that advertising contributed to
unsustainable development & recommended that the ASCI should be more finely tuned to the
requirement of the International Standards Organization (ISO) norms stipulated in the ISO
14000 series.

ETHICAL ISSUES IN ADVERTISING

Advertising is a highly visible business activity and any lapse in ethical standards can often be
risky for the company. Some of the common examples of ethical issues in advertising are give
below:

• Vulgarity/Obscenity used to gain consumers’ attention

• Misleading information and deception
• Puffery
• Stereotypes
• Racial issues
• Controversial products (e.g. alcohol, gambling, tobacco etc)

Media and Antisocial Behavior

No issue in the media effects arena has received as much attention as violence.
Television, movies, video games, and even rap music have been widely criticized for

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portraying physical aggression as an entertaining solution to problems. Today, most American
parents believe there is too much violence in the media and that it is harmful to society.

Researchers have used scientific methods to quantify the violence in different media.
The National Television Violence Study, a three-year assessment of more than 3,000 programs
a year, found that a steady 60 percent of programs across twenty-six channels contain some
physical aggression. On average, a typical hour of programming features six different violent
incidents. Violence varies considerably by genre and channel, however. Children's
programming is more violent than all other program types, and virtually all superhero cartoons
as well as slapstick cartoons contain violence.

Scholars have written hundreds of studies of the impact of media violence on children's
aggressive behavior. In 2000, six major medical organizations (American Academy of
Pediatrics, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, American Psychological
Association, American Medical Association, American Academy of Family Physicians, and
American Psychiatric Association) reviewed this research and issued a joint statement to
Congress, concluding that “viewing entertainment violence can lead to increases in aggressive
attitudes, values, and behavior, particularly in children.

Physical Aggression
In support of social cognitive theory, numerous experiments show that children will
imitate violent behaviors they see on television, particularly if the violence is rewarded. As an
example, one study exposed elementary school children to a single episode of the Mighty
Morphin Power Rangers and then observed verbal and physical aggression in the classroom.
Compared with a control group, children and especially boys who had watched the violent
program committed significantly more intentional acts of aggression such as hitting, kicking,
and shoving. In fact, for every aggressive behavior enacted by children in the control group,
children who had seen the Power Rangers committed seven aggressive acts. Other research
shows that children, especially preschoolers, will imitate a cartoon character as readily as a
human character and that they can reproduce aggressive behaviors they have seen on TV up
to eight months later.

Viewing violence on television also predicted increases in aggression over time, but the effect
of video game playing was more robust after various controls were introduced.

Social or Relational Aggression

Parents, teachers, and even researchers have been so preoccupied with
physical aggression that they have tended to overlook other forms of hostility, especially
those that are more social or relational in nature. Social aggression involves harming others'
feelings through social exclusion, gossip, or friendship manipulation. This type of behavior
begins to emerge as early as the preschool years and is more common among girls than boys.

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 One study found incidents of relational aggression in 92 percent of television
programs popular with teens. Another study found that teens who viewed social aggression
on television tended to practice such behavior. Although these studies are suggestive, it will
not be possible to draw conclusions about whether media violence causes this alternative
form of childhood aggression until more research is conducted.

Media Influences on Antisocial Behaviour

Desensitization

Frequent viewing of violence may cause children to become desensitized. This would mean
they would feel less anxious about violence and would be more likely to behave violently. The
more aggression they watch, the more acceptable aggression becomes.

Cumber patch people might get ‘used’ to screen violence, but this doesn’t mean they will also
get used to violent in the real world Screen violence is more likely to make them frightened,
rather than make them frightening

Cognitive Priming

After a violent programme, the viewer is ready to behave aggressively as memories involving
aggression are retrieved. Frequent exposure to violence may lead children to store ideas for
aggressive behavior, which maybe recalled if any aspect on the viewed situation is present.

Study a group of hockey players was shown a violent film, & another group a non-violent film
with an actor holding a walkie-talkie. In a hockey game later, players behaved most
aggressively if they had seen the violent film & the referee was holding a walkie-talkie. The
walkie-talkie was a cue for aggression.

Is it ethical to expose people to violence for research purposes? It may cause psychological
harm or induce violent behaviour. A lot of research into this area involves children, which may
be particularly damaging to their development, perhaps causing them to behave violently in the
future.

Justification

TV violence provides moral guidelines on what is and isn’t acceptable. When violence is
justified or goes unpunished, this reduces the viewer’s guilt or concern about consequences.
TV violence may also give the impression that violence can solve problems

e.g. Batmanused violence to fight crime.

The TV series

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The A-Team presents the good guys behaving violently. Such shows support the idea that
media violence justifies the violence of the viewer. The use of aggression by these prosocial
characters justifies their aggression, which the children eagerly identify.

Reductionist

May not simply be due to seeing violence, may be genes etc Support: Real Life Application -
Case study of James Bulger In 1993 a 2yr old boy was abducted and murdered by two 10yr old
boys. Police found they had been exposed to aggressive films such as ‘Child’s Play 3,’
classified as certificate 18.The exposure to aggressive media may have contributed to their
violent behaviour.

Obscenity and Indecency

For the most part, the rules of both of these, and when these materials can be disseminated,
deal with the dissemination of sexually explicit materials.

Such sexually suggestive or explicit materials can be generally split into three categories: –

• Obscenity: This category is so offensive that is deserves and receives no First

Amendment protection. It can be regulated or outlawed at the will of the states.

• Indecency: This category is “less offensive” than obscenity. It enjoys

First Amendment protection. However, it may be regulated more than
political speech. e.g., to protect children from indecent images, etc.

• Speech that doesn’t rise to the indecency level enjoys full First Amendment protection

Basic rules: –

• Obscenity is not protected by the Constitution.

• Distribution of obscene materials may be outlawed and punished.
• Distribution of obscene materials by media outlets is banned.

What is obscene? • (or, “I can’t define it, but I know it when I see it” – Justice P. Stewart)

• To be considered obscene requires three elements:

– The material appeals to prurient interest;

– The material is “patently offensive” in the community;

– The material lacks redeeming social value.

Prurient Interest

• The material must appeal to “lascivious, shameful or morbid” interest in sex.

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• . Pornography can also be aimed at a percentage of the market.

• For “a typical” sexual depictions, the standard is based on the people to whom the images
are targeted. This is measured based on a “community” standard.

• What an average person in Chennai considers obscene is not necessarily the same as what
the average person in Amritsar does. – Because of this rule, wide distributors of
these materials may be subjected to the rules of the most stringent jurisdiction.

Patently Offensive

• Sexually stimulating materials are not inherently obscene. It must go beyond that to the
point of offensiveness.

– Again, this is measured based on the community standard.

– This generally requires something more than mere nudity.

– Deviant or strange conduct can help something be considered offensive.

– Curse words, in and of them, are not considered patently offensive, though they may, of
course, be regulated in broadcast media.

Indecency

• This includes sexually explicit material that, for whatever reason, does not meet
the definition of obscenity.

The regulation includes:

• Limiting sexual material to certain times of the day.

• Not allowing curse words on the air.

2001 FCC guidelines provide that a broadcast is indecent if it:

• Describes sexual or excretory organs or activities; and

• It is patently offensive to the average viewer or listener.

Indecency through Different Media

• Broadcast TV

The FCC has total control and indecency

is often limited by time or prohibited all together (see above).

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• Telephone – Indecent content that does not rise to the level of obscenity (e.g., “dial porn”
phone numbers
cannot be banned, but can be regulated. The law can (and does) ban phone content that is “
obscene.”

• Cable TV – Cable TV essentially enjoys the same freedom newspapers do

– Obscenity can be banned

but adult access to indecency cannot. rules to protect children are okay but not if too broad.

Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI)

Introduction

ASCI are a voluntary self-regulatory council, registered as a not-for-profit Company under

section 25 of the Indian Cos. Act. The sponsors of the ASCI, who are its principal members,
are firms of considerable repute within Industry in India, and comprise Advertisers, Media, Ad.
Agencies and other Professional/Ancillary services connected with advertising practice.

The Role and Functioning of the ASCI & its Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) in dealing
with Complaints received from Consumers and Industry, against Ads which are considered as
False, Misleading, Indecent, Illegal, leading to Unsafe practices, or Unfair to competition,
and consequently in contravention of the ASCI Code for Self-Regulation in Advertising.

ASCI endeavors to achieve compliance with its decisions through reasoned persuasion and the
power of public opinion.

To ensure the Truthfulness and Honesty of Representations and Claims made by

Advertisements and to Safeguard against misleading Advertisements.

1. Advertisements must be truthful. All descriptions, claims and comparisons which

relate to matters of objectively ascertainable fact should be capable of
substantiation. Advertisers and advertising agencies are required to produce such
substantiation as and when called upon to do so by The Advertising Standards Council
of India.

2. Where advertising claims are expressly stated to be based on or supported by

independent research or assessment, the source and date of this should be indicated in
the advertisement.

3. Advertisements shall not, without permission from the person, firm or institution under
reference, contain any reference to such person, firm or institution which confers an
unjustified advantage on the product advertised or tends to bring the person, firm or
institution into ridicule or disrepute. If and when required to do so by the Advertising
Standards Council of India, the advertiser and the advertising agency shall produce

37
 explicit permission from the person, firm or institution to which reference is made in
the advertisement.

IV. Advertisements shall neither distort facts nor mislead the consumer by means of
implications or omissions. Advertisements shall not contain statements or visual presentation
which directly or by implication or by omission or by ambiguity or by exaggeration are likely
to mislead the consumer about the product advertised or the advertiser or about any other
product or advertiser.

V. Advertisements shall not be so framed as to abuse the trust of consumers or exploit their
lack of experience or knowledge. No advertisement shall be permitted to contain any claim so
exaggerated as to lead to grave or widespread disappointment in the minds of consumers.

Examples Products shall not be described as `free’ where there is any direct cost to the
consumer other than the actual cost of any delivery, freight, or postage.

Where such costs are payable by the consumer, a clear statement that this is the case shall be
made in the advertisement. Claims which use expressions such as “Upto five years’ guarantee”
or “Prices from as low as Rs. Y” are not acceptable if there is a likelihood of the consumer
being misled either as to the extent of the availability or as to the applicability of the benefits
offered.

Examples

Where a claim is made that if one product is purchased another product will be provided
`free’, the advertiser is required to show, as and when called upon by the ASCI, that the price
paid by the consumer for the product which is offered for purchase with the advertised incentive
is no more than the prevalent price of the product without the advertised incentive.

Advertisements inviting the public to take part in lotteries or prize competitions

permitted under law or which hold out the prospect of gifts shall state clearly all material
conditions and advertisers shall make adequate provisions for the judging of such competitions,
announcement of the results and the fair distribution of prizes or gifts according to the
advertised terms and conditions within a reasonable period of time.

Obvious untruths or exaggerations intended to amuse or to catch the eye of the consumer are
permissible provided that they are clearly to be seen as humorous or hyperbolic and not likely
to be understood as making literal or misleading claims for the advertised product.

Chapter II B) To ensure that Advertisements are not offensive to generally accepted standards
of Public Decency.

Advertisements should contain nothing indecent, vulgar or repulsive which is likely, in the
light of generally prevailing standards of decency and propriety, to cause grave or widespread
offence.

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C) To safeguard against the indiscriminate use of Advertising in situations or of the Promotion
of Products which are regarded as Hazardous or Harmful to society or to individuals,
particularly minors, to a degree or of a type which is Unacceptable to Society at Large.

1. No advertisement shall be permitted which:

a. Tends to incite people to crime or to promote disorder and violence or intolerance b. Derides
any race, caste, color, creed or nationality. c. Presents criminality as desirable or directly or
indirectly encourages people - particularly minors - to emulate it or conveys the modus
operandi of any crime

d. Adversely affects friendly relations with a foreign State.

13. Advertisements addressed to minors shall not contain anything, whether in

illustration or otherwise, which might result in their physical, mental or moral harm or which
exploits their vulnerability. For example, Advertisements: Should not encourage minors to
enter strange places or to converse with strangers in an effort to collect coupons, wrappers,
labels Should not feature hazardous acts which are likely to encourage minors to emulate such
acts in a manner which could cause harm or injury. Should not show minors using explosive
substance; or playing with or using sharp knives, guns or mechanical or electrical appliances,
the careless use of which could lead to their suffering burns, shocks or other injury. Should not
feature minors for tobacco or alcohol-based products. Should not feature personalities from the
field of sports, music and cinema for products which, by law, either require a health warning
in their advertising or cannot be purchased by minors.

3. Advertisements shall not, without justifiable reason, show or refer to dangerous practices or
manifest a disregard for safety or encourage negligence. 4. Advertisements shall not propagate
products, the use of which is banned under the law. 5. Advertisements should contain nothing
which is in breach of the law nor omit anything which the law requires.

Chapter IV

D) To ensure that Advertisements observe fairness in competition such that the Consumer’s
need to be informed on choice in the Market-Place and the Canons of generally accepted
competitive behaviour in Business are both served.

1. Advertisements containing comparisons with other manufacturers or suppliers or with

other products including those where a competitor is named, are permissible in the interests of
vigorous competition and public enlightenment, provided: It is clear what aspects of the
advertiser’s product are being compared with what aspects of the competitor’s product The
advertisement does not unfairly denigrate, attack or discredit other products, advertisers or
advertisements directly or by implication. The comparisons are factual, accurate and capable
of substantiation

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2. Advertisements shall not make unjustifiable use of the name or initials of any other firm,
company or institution, nor take unfair advantage of the goodwill attached to the trade mark or
symbol of another firm or its product or the goodwill acquired by its advertising campaign.

3.Advertisements shall not be similar to any other advertiser’ earlier run

advertisements in general layout, copy, slogans, visual presentations, music or sound effects,
so as to suggest plagiarism.

4. As regards matters covered by sections 2 and 3 above, complaints of plagiarism of

advertisements released earlier abroad will lie outside the scope of this Code except in the
under-mentioned circumstances: The complaint is lodged within 12 months of the first general
circulation of the advertisements/campaign complained against. The complainant provides
substantiation regarding the claim of prior invention/usage abroad

40
 SCHOOL OF SCIENCE AND HUMANITIES
DEPARTMENT OF VISUAL COMMUNICATION

UNIT – IV– Media Law and Ethics – SVCA1502

41
 IV.BROADCASTING ETHICS
1. Broadcasting Ethics:
Issues in the ethics of entertainment media include:
Violence and Sex: The depiction of violence and sex, and the presence of strong
language. Ethical guidelines and legislation in this area are common and many media
are subject to rating systems and supervision by agencies.
Product Placement: An increasingly common marketing tactic is the placement of
products in entertainment media. The producers of such media may be paid high sums
to display branded products. The practice is controversial and largely unregulated.
Stereotypes: Both advertising and entertainment media make heavy use of
stereotypes. It may negatively affect people’s perceptions of themselves or promote
socially undesirable behaviour. The stereotypical portrayals of men, affluence and
ethnic groups are examples of major areas of debate.
Taste and Taboos: Entertainment media often questions on our values for artistic and
entertainment purposes. These two sides come into conflict. In the name of art, media
may deliberately attempt to break with existing norms and shock the audience. That
poses ethical problems when the norms are abandoned are closely associated with
certain relevant moral values or obligations.
Editorial Integrity and Independence:
The broadcasting is independent of outside interests and arrangements.
Serving the public Interest:
Its main aim is to serve the public interest. It seeks to report stories of the audiences
interest.
Fairness:
Output will be based on fairness, Openness, honesty and straight dealing
Unethical or Illegal behavior:
• Stealing Copyright and credit for intellectual property
• Display of pornographic material
• Deliberate public wrong information
• Misuse of research material
• Improper commercial or personal use of network
• Stealing credit information

2. Prasar Bharati Act ( 1997) :

Prasar Bharati, is India's largest public broadcasting agency, headquartered in New
Delhi. It is a statutory autonomous body set up by an Act of Parliament and comprises
the Doordarshan Television Network and All India Radio, which were earlier media
units of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. The Parliament of India passed
the Prasar Bharati Act to grant this autonomy in 1990, but it was not enacted until 15
September 1997
The Prasar Bharati Act provides for the establishment of a Broadcasting Corporation,
to be known as Prasar Bharati, and define its composition, functions, and powers. The
Act grants autonomy to All India Radio and to Doordarshan, both of which were

42
 previously under government control. The Act received the assent of the President of
India on 12 September 1990 after being unanimously passed by Parliament. It was
finally implemented in November 1997. By the Prasar Bharati Act, all property, assets,
debts, liabilities, payments of money due, as well as all suits and legal proceedings
involving Akashvani (All India Radio) and Doordarshan were transferred to Prasar
Bharati.

• To uphold the unity and integrity of the country and the values enshrined in the
Constitution.
• To safeguard the citizen’s right to be informed freely, truthfully and objectively on
all matters of public interest, national or international, and to present a fair and
balanced flow of information including contrasting views without advocating any
opinion or ideology of its own.
• To promote national integration.
• To pay special attention to the fields of education and spread of literacy,
agriculture, rural development, environment, health & family welfare and science
& technology.
• To create awareness about women’s issues and take special steps to protect the
interests of children, aged and other vulnerable sections of the society.
• To provide adequate coverage to diverse cultures, sports and games and youth
affairs.
• To promote social justice, safeguarding the rights of working classes, minorities
and tribal communities.
• To promote research and expand broadcasting faculties & development in
broadcast technology.

3. Cable TV network Act ( 1995):

• No person shall operate a cable television network unless he is registered as a
cable operator under this act
• Any person who is operating or desires of operating a cable television network may
apply for registration as a cable operator to the registering authority
• No person shall transmit or retransmit through a cable service any advertisement
unless such advertisement is in conformity with the prescribed advertisement code.
• No person shall transmit through a cable service any programme unless such
programme is in conformity with the prescribed programme code.

4. TRAI
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is a regulatory body set up by the
Government of India under section 3 of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act,
1997. It is the regulator of the telecommunications sector in India. It consists of a
chairperson and not more than two full-time members and not more than two part-time
members. The TRAI Act was amended by an ordinance, effective from 24 January 2000,
establishing a Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) to take
over the adjudicatory and disputes functions from TRAI.

43
 Reforms in Telecom Licensing:
• Access service licensing
• Internet Service Licence
• National Long Distance (NLD) Licence
• International Long Distance (ILD) Licence
National Telecom Policy 2012
2003: Introduction of Calling Party Pay(CPP) regime
Interconnection Usages Charges (IUC)
Introduction of Unified Access Service License (UASL)
Functions of TRAI:
o Special emphasis on Consumers:
o Recommendations for development of telecom technology
o Lay down standards of quality of service-by-service providers
o Conduct periodical surveys of services provided to consumers
o Facilitate competition & promote efficiency in the operation of Telecom
services

5. Cinematograph Act (1952):

• Section- 3: Board of film censors.
• Section- 5A: Films are certified under 4 categories
✓ U- Unrestricted Public Exhibition
✓ U/A- Parental Guidance for children below the age of 12 years. Certification explains
that the film is appropriate for all age groups
✓ A- Restricted to adult audiences. Type of film is restricted to adults only (Persons
above the age of 18 are adults)
✓ S- Restricted to specialized audiences such as doctors or scientists. Films which are
rated S are meant for a special class of persons only.
• Section- 5C: After examination of films
✓ Refusing to grant a certificate, or
✓ Granting only an “A” certificate, or
✓ granting only a “S” certificate, or
✓ granting only a “UA” certificate, or
✓ Directing the applicant to carry out the modifications within thirty days from the date
of order.
✓ Section- 5E: Suspension and revocation of certificate.
✓ Section- 5F: Review of orders by central government.
✓ Section- 7: Penalties

6. Privacy law in India

In India, the right of privacy is recognized in both common law and constitutional law.
Article 19(l)(a) of the Constitution of India guarantees the fundamental right to freedom
of speech and expression. In accordance with Article 19(2), this right can be restricted by

44
law only in the 'interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State,
friendly relations with Foreign States, public order, decency or morality or in relation to
contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an offence'. The Supreme Court of India
has concluded that the fundamental right to privacy ensues from the right to life (Article
21 of the Constitution)
The PCI has laid down certain guidelines regarding the right to privacy: 'The press shall
not intrude or invade the privacy of an individual. The guidelines explain that 'things
concerning a person's home, family, religion, health, sexuality, personal life and private
affairs are covered by the concept of privacy excepting where any of these impinges upon
the public or public interest'.
What is Public and What is Private?
The PCI distinguishes between private and public citizens, stating that: '...the degree of
privacy differs from person to person and from situation to situation. The PUBLIC person
who functions under public gaze as an emissary/representative of the public cannot expect
to be afforded the same degree of privacy as a private person. His acts and conduct as are
of public interest ("public interest" being distinct and separate from "of interest to public")
even if conducted in private may be brought to public knowledge through the medium of
the press. The press has, however, a corresponding duty to ensure that the information
about such acts and conduct of public interest of the public person is obtained through
fair means, is properly verified and then reported accurately. For obtaining information in
respect to acts conducted away from public gaze, the press is not expected to use
surveillance devices. For obtaining information about private talks and discussion, while
the press is expected not to badger the public persons, the public persons are also expected
to bring openness in their functioning and cooperate with the press in its duty of informing
the public about the acts of their representatives.
'Interviews/articles or arguments/comments pertaining to public persons which border on
events that are supposed to be public knowledge, if reported correctly, cannot be termed as
intrusion into private life. There is a very thin dividing line between public and private life
and public persons should not be too thick-skinned when it comes to comments or criticism
of their actions or views by journalists. The mass media are allowed certain latitude in
criticizing persons who are in seats of power because their conduct constitutes public
interest, provided their criticism is not merely motivated to gratify private spite of
opponents/rivals of a particular public figure.'
Under Indian law, the extent to which a person can claim a right to privacy is dependent
on her/his public status. A person who welcomes media interest in her/his life will not be
able to claim a right to privacy as easily as a 'private individual'. However, in the absence
of any 'public issue', the publication of material that invades the privacy of any individual
can invite an action for damages.
When individuals 'sell' or 'exchange' their privacy for commercial gain, the dividing line
between what is 'private' and what is in the 'public' domain gets blurred. Many celebrities
now sell the photo rights to their weddings and newborns to tabloids. For example, British
actress Elizabeth Hurley and her husband of Indian origin Arun Nayar sold the photo
rights to their wedding in India to Hello! magazine.
Vulnerable Victims

45
 The PCI states: 'While reporting crime involving rape, abduction or kidnap of women/females
(sic) or sexual assault on children, or raising doubts and questions touching the chastity, personal
character and privacy of women, the names, photographs of the victims or other particulars leading
to their identity shall not be published.... Minor children and infants who are the offspring of sexual
abuse or "forcible marriage" or illicit sexual union shall not be identified or photographed.'
Photography
On photography, the PCI stipulates that 'intrusion through photography into moments of personal
grief shall be avoided. However, photography of victims of accidents or natural calamity may be
in the larger public interest.' But, photographing public figures in an intrusive, unjustified manner
should be avoided. There are instances of public figures obtaining damages from publications that
printed their photographs against their wishes
(Eg:, Sienna Successfully Sues The Sun).
British actress Sienna Miller successfully sued News Group, a subsidiary of News In
in December 2007, for publishing nude photographs of her taken against her The will
and published in British tabloids The Sun and The News of the Worlds News Group and
Xposure Photo Agency were forced to pay 37,000 in damages to the actress The
amount is believed to be the biggest payout in a case of invasion of privacy in the UK.

PRIVACY AND PUBLIC INTEREST

When an act threatens an individual's or people's psychological or physical well-being, the
perpetrator's claim to the right to privacy is weakened and the severity of the threat determines the
manner of that intrusion. In the confusion between privacy and public interest, the media at times
oversteps its rights. The media is sometimes guilty of sensationalizing a story to satisfy what is
believed to be in the interest of the public.
Some journalists are often unapologetic about looking into the intimate details of the lives
of public figures, claiming that privacy needs can be violated in the 'public' or even the
'national' interest.
Privacy laws are a double-edged weapon which often prevent the full facts of a case from
coming out. The right to information is often set against official regulation and
management of information or 'regimes of truth'. Journalists need to strike a careful
balance between unwarranted intrusion and reporting the news as they find it. Yet, some
form of detachment is important if the story told is not to be overburdened with the
emotion of the moment, or stripped of context and, therefore, meaning. The investigative
journalist, then, is pushed inevitably into the heart of the story, searching people's truths.

7. Sting operations
The term "sting" was popularized by the 1973 Robert Redford and Paul Newman movie The
Sting, though the film is not about a police operation: it features two grifters and their attempts
to con a mob boss out of a large sum of money.
In law enforcement, a sting operation is a deceptive operation designed to catch a person
committing a crime. A typical sting will have an undercover law enforcement officer,
detective, or co-operative member of the public play a role as criminal partner or potential
victim and go along with a suspect's actions to gather evidence of the suspect's

46
 wrongdoing. Mass media journalists occasionally resort to sting operations to record video
and broadcast to expose criminal activity.
It is also known as Investigative Journalism and Undercover Journalism. There are two forms
of sting operation- Positive Sting Operation and Negative operation.
Positive Sting Operation:
These activities are conducted for the benefit of the public and are concerned with keeping
the government responsible by revealing and bringing to light its malpractices. It aims to make
the government more honest
Negative Sting Operation:
These are not conducted for the good of humanity, but rather to infringe the rights of others
on behalf of obtaining so called breaking news in order to obtain the audience’s attention.
They have no constructive motive behind them.
Sting Operations in India:
The practise began some years ago. Tiny cameras are hidden in handbags or pens of journalist
that intruded into the dark recesses of homes and offices of people of consequence to bring
out elements of truth that rocked the whole nation.
Cricketers who fixed matches, public officers on the take and politicians who had no qualms
in stuffing money into their drawers were the first lot of people to fall prey to these covert
operations.
8. Depiction of Violence against women and children
Positive effects of media violence:
• Media violence can be positive if people release violent inclinations by seeing them
portrayed
• Media portrayals of violence can increase awareness of social problems
Negative effects of media violence:
Aggressive stimulation theory: Media depicted violence has potential to cue real life violence
Media violence and broader moral panics: debates about media impact. It is connected to real
life events. A form of electronic child abuse.
Research on children’s relationship with media
Children defined in terms of what they lack
• Inability to conform to adult norms
• Inability to distinguish between fiction and reality
• Simply too immature
Effects on children:
Behavior effects
Emotional Effects
Ideological Effects
Connections Complex and diverse. Harmful or beneficial

47
Why do children watch violent programmes?
Pathological conception of viewers (immaturity, lack of intelligence, personality defects.
Potential Appeal-Thrill, countercultural, testing one’s own responses
Root causes of violence against women:

• Gender Stereotypes
• Society
• Media
Types of violence against woman:

• Physical
• Sexual
• Psychological

48
 SCHOOL OF SCIENCE AND HUMANITIES
DEPARTMENT OF VISUAL COMMUNICATION

UNIT – V – Media Law and Ethics – SVCA1502

49
 V. CYBER ETHICS
1. Data protection and Data preservation

Data protection is the process of safeguarding important information from corruption,

compromise or loss.The importance of data protection increases as the amount of data created
and stored continues to grow at unprecedented rates. There is also little tolerance for downtime
that can make it impossible to access important information.

Consequently, a large part of a data protection strategy is ensuring that data can be restored
quickly after any corruption or loss. Protecting data from compromise and ensuring data
privacy are other key components of data protection.

Principles of data protection

The key principles of data protection are to safeguard and make available data under all
circumstances. The term data protection is used to describe both the operational backup of data
as well as business continuity/disaster recovery (BCDR). Data protection strategies are
evolving along two lines: data availability and data management.

Data availability ensures users have the data they need to conduct business even if the data is
damaged or lost.

There are two key areas of data management used in data protection: data lifecycle
management and information lifecycle management. Data lifecycle management is the process
of automating the movement of critical data to online and offline storage. Information lifecycle
management is a comprehensive strategy for valuing, cataloging and protecting information
assets from application and user errors, malware and virus attacks, machine failure or facility
outages and disruptions.

Differences between data protection, security and privacy

• Data protection safeguards information from loss through backup and recovery.
• Data security refers specifically to measures taken to protect the integrity of the data
itself against manipulation and malware. It provides defense from internal and external
threats.
• Data privacy refers to controlling access to the data. Organizations must determine who
has access to data. Understandably, a privacy breach can lead to data security issues.

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2. Social networking & ethics

The Indian government’s Information Technology published its “Intermediary Guidelines and
Digital Media Ethics Code Rules 2021” on Thursday. It details the new rules that will govern
the social media and streaming sector.

Social media platforms are not allowed to “host, store or publish any information prohibited
by any law in relation to the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India: the security of
the State; friendly relations with foreign States; public order; decency or morality; in relation
to contempt of court; defamation; incitement to an offence, or information which violates any
law for the time being in force.”

• Code of Ethics for online news, OTT platforms and digital media:This Code of
Ethics prescribe the guidelines to be followed by OTT platforms and online news and
digital media entities.
• Self-Classification of Content: The OTT platforms, called as the publishers of online
curated content in the rules, would self-classify the content into five age based
categories- U (Universal), U/A 7+, U/A 13+, U/A 16+, and A (Adult). Platforms would
be required to implement parental locks for content classified as U/A 13+ or higher,
and reliable age verification mechanisms for content classified as “A”. The
publisher of online curated content shall prominently display the classification
rating specific to each content or programme together with a content descriptor
informing the user about the nature of the content, and advising on viewer description
(if applicable) at the beginning of every programme enabling the user to make an
informed decision, prior to watching the programme.
• Publishers of news on digital media would be required to observe Norms of
Journalistic Conduct of the Press Council of India and the Programme Code
under the Cable Television Networks Regulation Act thereby providing a level
playing field between the offline (Print, TV) and digital media.
• A three-level grievance redressal mechanism has been established under the
rules with different levels of self-regulation.
o Level-I: Self-regulation by the publishers;
o Level-II: Self-regulation by the self-regulating bodies of the publishers;
o Level-III: Oversight mechanism.
• Self-regulation by the Publisher: Publisher shall appoint a Grievance Redressal
Officer based in India who shall be responsible for the redressal of grievances received
by it. The officer shall take decision on every grievance received by it within 15 days.
• Self-Regulatory Body: There may be one or more self-regulatory bodies of publishers.
Such a body shall be headed by a retired judge of the Supreme Court, a High Court or
independent eminent person and have not more than six members. Such a body will
have to register with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. This body will
oversee the adherence by the publisher to the Code of Ethics and address grievances
that have not be been resolved by the publisher within 15 days.

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 • Oversight Mechanism: Ministry of Information and Broadcasting shall formulate an
oversight mechanism. It shall publish a charter for self-regulating bodies, including
Codes of Practices. It shall establish an Inter-Departmental Committee for hearing
grievances.

3. Right to Information act

RIGHT TO INFORMATION

The Right to Information Act, 2005 is a revision of the Freedom of Information Act,
2002. It was formulated to facilitate smooth access to information for all citizens. The Right
to Information act is based on the premise that democracy must involve an informed
citizenry and that a government must be accountable to those governed.
Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI)

• The Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI) is a law enacted by the Parliament of
India "to provide for setting out the practical regime of right to information for
citizens."

• The Act applies to all States & Union Territories of India, except the State of Jammu
and Kashmir - which is covered under a State-level law.

• The provisions of the Act, any citizen (excluding J&K) may request information from
a "public authority“ (body of Government) within thirty days – provide information

• The Act also requires every public authority to computerize their records for wide
dissemination.

• Publish certain categories of information so that the citizens need minimum recourse
to request for information formally.

• Law was passed by Parliament on 15 June 2005 and came into force on 12 October
2005.

• Information disclosure in India was hitherto restricted by the Official Secrets Act
1923 and various other special laws, which the new RTI Act now relaxes.

Background

• Law enacted during the British rule, the Official Secrets Act of 1889 which was
amended in 1923.

• This law secures information related to security of the State, sovereignty of the country
and friendly relations with foreign states, and contains provisions which prohibit
disclosure of non-classified information.

• Civil Service conduct rules and the Indian Evidence Act impose further restrictions on
government officials' powers to disclose information to the public.

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Enactment

• The FOI Act led to National RTI enactment. The first draft of the Right to Information
Bill was presented to Parliament on 22 December 2004.

• After intense debate, more than a hundred amendments to the draft Bill were made
between December 2004 and 15 June 2005 when the bill finally passed.

The Act came fully into effect on 12 October 2005.

Information
The Act specifies that citizens have a right to:

• request any information (as defined).

• take copies of documents.

• inspect documents, works and records.

• take certified samples of materials of work.

• obtain information in form of printouts, diskettes, floppies, tapes, video cassettes or in

any other electronic mode or through printouts.

Process

• Under the Act - all authorities must appoint their Public Information Officer (PIO).

Any person may submit a request to the PIO for information in writing. It is PIO's obligation
to provide information to citizens of India who request information under the Act
• If the request pertains to another public authority (in whole or part) it is PIO's
responsibility to transfer/forward the concerned request to a PIO of the other within
5 days.

• Every public authority - required to designate Assistant Public Information

Officers (APIOs) to receive RTI requests and appeals for forwarding to the PIOs of
their public authority.

• The citizen making the request is not obliged to disclose any information except his
name and contact particulars.

• The Act specifies time limits for replying to the request -

➢ Request has been made to the PIO - the reply is to be given within 30 days of receipt
(but computed from the day after it is received by the PIO of the transferee authority).

➢ Request has been made to an APIO - the reply is to be given within 35 days of receipt.

➢ Information concerning Corruption and Human Rights violations - provided

within 45 days but with the prior approval of the Central Information Commission.

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 ➢ Life or Liberty of any person is involved - the PIO is expected to reply within 48
hours.

➢ The information paid for - the reply of the PIO, necessarily limited to either denying
the request (in whole or part) and/or providing a computation of "further fees“

➢ Information is not provided within the time period - treated as deemed refusal. Refusal
with or without reasons may be ground for appeal or complaint.

• Information not provided on time prescribed - provided free of charge.

• Central Departments as of 2006 - fee of Rs. 10 for filing the request, Rs. 2 per page of
information & Rs. 5 for each hour of inspection after the first hour.

• The applicant is a Below Poverty Card holder, then no fee shall apply. Such BPL Card
holders have to provide a copy of their BPL card along with their application to the
Public Authority.

• States Government and High Courts fix their own rules. Chief Information
Commissioner (CIC) is the head of all the information officers.

• The State Information Commission will be selected by the State Government

through a Gazette notification.

• It consist of One State Chief Information Commissioner (SCIC) and not more than
10 State Information Commissioners (SIC) to be appointed by the Governor.

• End of the year CIC required report contains –

➢ the number of requests made to each public authority

➢ the number of decisions where applicants were not given permission to access to the
documents which they request, the provisions of the Act under which these decisions
were made and the number of times such provisions were filed

➢ details of disciplinary action taken against any officer in respect of the administration
of the Act

➢ the amount of charges collected by each public authority under the Act

• PIO deal with requests –

✓ persons seeking information & where the request cannot be made in writing

✓ to render reasonable assistance to the person to reduce the same in writing

Not open disclosure

The following is exempt from disclosure -

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 • Information, disclosure of which - affects the sovereignty and integrity of India, the
security, scientific or economic interests of the State, relation with foreign State or
lead to incitement of an offence

• Information - expressly forbidden to be published by any court of law or tribunal

or the disclosure of which may constitute contempt of court

• Information, disclosure - which would cause breach (violation) of privilege of

Parliament or the State Legislature

• Information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property,

disclosure - which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the
competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of
such information

• Information available to a person in his fiduciary (Legal or ethical issues of

confidence) relationship, unless the competent authority is satisfied that the larger
public interest warrants the disclosure of such information

4. Concept of Stereotypes
A stereotype is a fixed mental image of a group that is frequently applied to all its members.
A stereotype is a commonly held public belief about specific social groups or types of
individuals. The concept of ‘stereotypes are standardized and simplified conceptions of groups
based on some prior assumption.
It is derived from Greek words (stereo) solid and (typos) impression; “solid impression”
In other words, stereotypes are an economical way of viewing the world. Because individuals
cannot personally experience most of events in which they have an interest they rely on the
testimony of others to enrich their improvised knowledge of environments.Stereotypes are
simple, dimensional portrayals of people. Usually based in sex, race, religion, profession or
age.

• Filmmakers often rely heavily on stereotypes, because they are quick & simple way to
establish a movie character’s traits. Blonde women are dumb, foreigners are villains,
Mexicans are lazy and blacks are great athletes.

o Teenaged characters are variously shown as sex-crazed, uncivilized, moralistic or

shallow and they tend to bumped into groups of either popular kids or girls.

o The film industry today is more sensitive to issue of culture and greater than it once
was, but many movies still perpetuate common miss conceptions about groups of
people such over simplified ad in acetate.

o Portrayals can profoundly affect how we perceive one another, we relate to one
another & how we value ourselves.

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 o Because children have a limited experience of the world, they are particularly
vulnerable by media stereotypes. Even animated movies have snare of stereotypes
because they are familiar clearly understood. Kindly grandfather is Pinocchio; wicked
stepmother in Cinderella all stereotypes known & understood by children parent
should teach their kids to recognize media stereotypes ads to understand how they
influence us.

Have your kids water must for stereotypical portrayals of children & teens in movies.
Seeing inaccurate portraits of them, which help them to understand the concept of stereotyping.
Discuss stereotypes of old films with children example for negative stereotypes & distort the
history.
Role of stereotypes in Media content
Stereotyping in production of media content may be in evitable should be deployed to
confront those stereotypes that are partially offensive unfair to segments of society. Media
content of all kinds news, entertainment, advertising bond with stereotypes, primarily harm
have accrues from stereotyping is that it leads to discrimination & prejudice.
Stereotyping, however does not concern just matters of cultural discrimination or
prejudice, Prevalence of stereotypical symbols & messages in media content implicates the
persistent question of what media’s role in society should be.
Media serve as social engineer, attempting to construct a more equalitarian culture or
should they simply reflect society’s values. Advertiser stereotypes large segment of
population. Advertiser shapes society values & our view of the world; you will believe it
essential that advertisers become aware of how they portray different groups. Ethical
dimensions of media’s role dispelling stereotypes involves continuous struggle to balance
commercial & mass appeal of stereotypes against values of accuracy, fairness & respect for
individual members of society. Media stereotypes of minorities, women, and the elderly,
disabled must visible and criticized.
In Asian countries, traditionally, the female’s role was to be in charge of domestic
matters, such as serving her husband, looking after her children, and performing household
chores like cooking and cleaning. This type of female was appreciated as “virtuous”. An old
Chinese proverb on women states; “Talentless is virtuous: Tolerance” and obedience” were
women had no right to go to school. Schooling was available only for a rich family’s male
figures. Family was the single content of a women’s life, which in turn was regarded as yet
another virtue.
5. Indecent representation of women (Prohibition)

History of the legislation

The introduction of the Rajya Sabha Bill against Women’s Indecent Representation in 1986
was in response to a women’s movement which called for a legislative action against the
negative depiction of women in the country. The bill was introduced by Margaret Alva in the
Rajya Sabha and became law in October 1987 by way of enactment.

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The legislation intended to regulate women’s and representation in mainstream media,
especially in print. It was implemented to ensure that women’s representation in the media was
not indecent through ads, magazines, publications, and illustrations.

Objective of the Act

The law on obscenity is codified in sections in this country-The Indian Penal Code Section
292, Section 293 and Section 294. Despite these provisions, in publications, especially in
advertisements, there is a growing indecent representation of women or references to women,
which has the effect to denigrate women but is also derogative of women. While there may be
no specific intention, these advertisements, publications, etc. have a depraving or corrupting
effect. A different legislation is, therefore, necessary to prevent the indeterminate
representation of women effectively by means of advertisements, books, pamphlets etc.

Defining “indecency”
In Section 2(c) under the Indecent Representation of Women Act, 1986, the term “indecent
representation” is defined as meaning “indecent representation of women” in any way to have
the effect of being indignant or derogative of a woman, or of being corrupt or of being
susceptible to public morality, or moralistic depravity. The word “indecent representation” is
defined in the 1986 law, with emphasis on “depriving or corrupting” content, and this is
confused with morality. In the 1970s and 1980s, women’s organizations protested the indecent
portraiture of women primarily focused on nudity and sexually provocative or overtly typical
portrayal of women and thus strengthened the belief that the expression of sexuality, in
particular the expression of a woman, is an obscenity.

Section 5: power to enter and search

Section 5 of the Indecent Representation of Women Act, 1986 gives power to the officer to
enter and search any premises within the region

Section 6: penalties

Section 6 of The Indecent Representation of Women Act, 1986 imposes a penalty on the
offender. The terms and a fine extending to ten thousand rupees and the terms if a second or
subsequent prosecution occurs, the penalty may not be less than six months but may extend to
five years and may also extend, at least, to ten thousand rupees shall substitute for words or
fine which may exceed two thousands rupees. The words in case of a second or later conviction
to a sentence of no less than six months but which may extend up to five years and not less
than fifty thousand rupees but may be extended to five lakh rupees shall, however, be replaced
by the words. Their sentence shall not extend to five years.

6. Cyber law in India

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Cyber Crime

Crime is a social and economic phenomenon and is as old as the human society. Crime is a
legal concept and has the sanction of the law. Crime or an offence is a legal wrong that can be
followed by criminal proceedings which may result into punishment. Any criminal activity that
uses a computer either as an instrumentality, target or a means for perpetuating further crimes
comes within the ambit of cybercrime.

Why Cyberlaw in India?

When Internet was developed, the founding fathers of Internet hardly had any inclination that
Internet could transform itself into an all pervading revolution which could be misused for
criminal activities and which required regulation. Today, there are many disturbing things
happening in cyberspace. Due to the anonymous nature of the Internet, it is possible to engage
into a variety of criminal activities with impunity and people with intelligence, have been
grossly misusing this aspect of the Internet to perpetuate criminal activities in cyberspace.
Hence the need for Cyberlaws in India.

What is the importance of Cyberlaw?

Cyberlaw is important because it touches almost all aspects of transactions and activities on
and concerning the Internet, the World Wide Web and Cyberspace. Initially it may seem that
Cyberlaws is a very technical field and that it does not have any bearing to most activities in
Cyberspace. But the actual truth is that nothing could be further than the truth. Whether we
realize it or not, every action and every reaction in Cyberspace has some legal and Cyber legal
perspectives.

The subject of cybercrime may be broadly classified under the following three groups. They
are:
1. Against Individuals
a) Their person &
b) Their property of an individual
2. Against Organization
a) Government
b) Firm, Company, Group of Individuals.
3. Against Society at large
The following are the crimes, which can be committed against the following groups
Against Individuals:
i. Harassment via e-mails.
ii. Cyber-stalking.
iii. Dissemination of obscene material.
iv. Defamation.

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v. Unauthorized control/access over computer system.
vi. Indecent exposure
vii. Email spoofing
viii. Cheating & Fraud

Against Individual Property:

i. Computer vandalism.
ii. Transmitting virus.
iii. Unauthorized control/access over computer system.
iv. Intellectual Property crimes
v. Internet time thefts

Against Organization:
i. Unauthorized control/access over computer system
ii. Possession of unauthorized information.
iii. Cyber terrorism against the government organization.
iv. Distribution of pirated software etc.

Against Society at large:

i. Pornography (basically child pornography).
ii. Polluting the youth through indecent exposure.
iii. Trafficking
iv. Financial crimes
v. Sale of illegal articles
vi. Online gambling
vii. Forgery

7. Types of Cyber Crimes

The different kinds of cybercrimes are:

Unauthorized Access and Hacking: Unauthorized access means any kind of access without
the permission of either of the rightful or person in charge of the computer, computer system
or computer network. Hacking means an illegal intrusion into a computer system and/or
network. Every act committed towards breaking into a computer and/or network is hacking.
Hackers write or use ready-made computer programs to attack the target computer.Some
hackers hack for personal monetary gains, such as to stealing the credit card information,
transferring money from various bank accounts to their own account followed by withdrawal
of money. Government websites are the most targeted sites for the hackers.

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A hacker is an unauthorized user who attempts to or gains access to an information system.
Hacking is a crime even if there is no visible damage to the system, since it is an invasion in to
the privacy of data. There are different classes of Hackers.

a) White Hat Hackers- They believes that information sharing is good, and that it is their duty
to share their expertise by facilitating access to information. However there are some white hat
hackers who are just “joy riding" on computer systems. Eg.company technical experts

b) Black Hat Hackers- They cause damage after intrusion. They may steal or modify data or
insert viruses or worms which damage the system. They are also called “crackers”.

c) Grey Hat Hackers- Typically ethical but occasionally violates hacker ethics Hackers will
hack into networks, stand-alone computers and software. Network hackers try to gain
unauthorized access to private computer networks just for challenge, curiosity, and distribution
of information. Crackers perform unauthorized intrusion with damage like stealing or changing
of information or inserting malware (viruses or worms).

Web Hijacking
Web hijacking means taking forceful control of website of others. In this case the owner of the
website loses control over his website and its content.

Pornography
Pornography means showing sexual acts in order to cause sexual excitement. The definition of
pornography also includes pornographic websites, pornographic magazines produced using
computer and the internet pornography delivered over mobile phones.

Child Pornography
The Internet is being highly used as a medium to sexually abuse children. The children are
viable victim to the cybercrime. Computers and internet having become a necessity of every
household, the children have got an easy access to the internet. There is an easy access to the
pornographic contents on the internet. The pedophiles then sexually exploit the children either
by using them as sexual objects or by taking their pornographic pictures in order to sell those
over the internet.

Cyber Stalking
In general terms, stalking can be termed as the repeated acts of harassment targeting the victim
such as following the victim, making harassing phone calls, killing the victims pet, vandalizing
victims property, leaving written messages or objects. Stalking may be followed by serious
violent acts such as physical harm to the victim. Stalker even uses very filthy and obscene
language to invite the interested persons. In online stalking the stalker can make third party to
harass the victim.

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Denial of service Attack
This is an attack in which the criminal floods the bandwidth of the victim network or fills his
e-mail box with spam mail depriving him of the services he is entitled to access or provide.
This kind of attack is designed to bring the network to crash by flooding it with useless traffic.
But, like Virus, new DoS attacks are constantly being dreamed up by Hacker.

Virus Attacks
Viruses are the programs that have the capability to infect other programs and make copies of
it and spread into other program. Programs that multiply like viruses but spread from computer
to computer are called as worms. These are malicious software that attaches them to other
software.

Software Piracy
Software piracy refers to the illegal copying of genuine programs or the counterfeiting and
distribution of products intended to pass for the original. These kind of crimes also include
copyright infringement, trademarks violations, theft of computer source code, patent violations
etc.

Salami Attacks
These attacks are used for the commission of financial crimes. The key here is to make the
alteration so insignificant that in a single case it would go completely unnoticed. E.g. a bank
employee inserts a program, into the bank servers, that deducts a small amount of money (say
Rs. 5 a month) from the account of every customer. No account holder will probably notice
this unauthorized debit, but the bank employee will make a sizable amount of money every
month.

Phishing
Phishing is the act of sending an e-mail to a user falsely claiming to be an established legitimate
enterprise in an attempt to scam the user into surrendering private information that will be used
for identity theft. The e-mail directs the user to visit a web site where they are asked to update
personal information, such as passwords and credit card, social security, and bank account
numbers that the legitimate organization already has

Sale of illegal articles

This category of cybercrimes includes sale of narcotics, weapons and wildlife etc., by posting
information on websites, auction websites, and bulletin boards or simply by using email
communication.
Online gambling
There are millions of websites; all hosted on servers abroad, that offer online gambling. In fact,
it is believed that many of these websites are actually fronts for money laundering. Cases of
hawala transactions and money laundering over the Internet have been reported.

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Email spoofing :
E-mail spoofing is e-mail activity in which the sender addresses and other parts of the e-mail
header are altered to appear as though the e-mail originated from a different source. E-mail
spoofing is sending an e-mail to another person in such a way that it appears that the e-mail
was sent

Cyber Defamation
When a person publishes defamatory matter about someone on a website or sends e-mails
containing defamatory information to all of that person friends, it is termed as cyber
defamation.
Forgery
Computers, printers and scanners are used to forge counterfeit currency notes, postage and
revenue stamps, mark sheets etc. These are made using computers, and high quality scanners
and printers. by someone else.
This includes theft of information stored in computer hard disks, removable storage media etc.

Email bombing
Email bombing refers to sending a large number of emails to the victim resulting in the victims
email account (in case of an individual) or mail servers (in case of a company or an email
service provider) crashing.

Internet time theft

Internet time refers to usage by an unauthorized person of the Internet hours paid for by another
person.

Theft of computer system

This type of offence involves the theft of a computer, some part(s) of a computer or a peripheral
attached to the computer.

Physically damaging a computer system

This crime is committed by physically damaging a computer or its peripherals.

Breach of Privacy and Confidentiality

Privacy refers to the right of an individual/s to determine when, how and to what extent his or
her personal data will be shared with others. Breach of privacy means unauthorized use or
distribution or disclosure of personal information.
Generally for protecting secrecy of such information, parties while sharing information forms
an agreement about the procedure of handling of information and to not to disclose such
information to third parties or use it in such a way that it will be disclosed to third parties.

E-commerce/ Investment Frauds

An offering that uses false or fraudulent claims to solicit investments or loans, or that provides
for the purchase, use, or trade of forged or counterfeit securities. Merchandise or services that
were purchased or contracted by individuals online are never delivered.

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Cyber Terrorism
Targeted attacks on military installations, power plants, air traffic control, banks, trail traffic
control, telecommunication networks are the most likely targets. Others like police, medical,
fire and rescue systems etc.
Cyber terrorism can be conducted remotely, a feature that is especially appealing to
terrorists.
Cyber terrorism has the potential to affect directly a larger number of people.

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