Does Thrissur Police Commissioner Nishanthini IPS not value Freedom Of Expression?

By Shahid AmeenFebruary 17, 2015| 2.20 pm ISTIn a recent incident the Thrissur Commissioner of Police, R. Nishanthini IPS had to resort to filing a police complaint against a “fan page” eulogizing her accomplishments & protesting her transfer.The complaint was officially filed with the cyber-cell of Kerala Police which deals with so called “hi-tech” crimes. Without much delay the offending facebook “fan page” was taken down. There are not much details in the public-domain on the procedure the cyber-cell initiated to take down the page and the follow-up action against the perpetrators of the “crime”.In this case the procedure would have been to report the page under “Report a Violation of the Facebook Terms” under “identity & privacy” where the victim can “Report an Imposter Account” or the “Report Page” option depending on whether the victim was a registered user of Facebook.With over 11,000 likes, Thrissur Commissioner of Police, R Nishanthini IPS could be what you call an active user of the the popular social-media platform-Facebook. She actively shares photos of her self, friends, family, co-workers, senior functionaries of the government. She is also quite prone to sharing health tips which one frequently comes across as forwards on Whatsapp messages.It is very evident from her profile page that she has little concern for her own privacy or that of the people who are there in the photos shared by her on her official Facebook page. In fact there is a high possibility that she has violated the “Facebook Terms of Service” & “Community Standards” which deal with identity & privacy. In any other country with strict privacy laws that could mean a violation of law and trouble for the young IPS officer.Our best bet is that the “Report an Imposter Account” was utilised to bring down the offending fan-page. Facebook account impersonation of you or someone you know, is brought down after due verification. In simpler words, imposter accounts are brought down swiftly by Facebook, if one is reported and has violated its terms of service.The offending page titled “R Nishanthini Ips (Support R Nishanthini)” having her photograph was unambiguous about its role as a fan page to express the discontent of her supporters against her transfer to another city. From this it can be inferred that it was not an imposter account but merely a medium to express one's opinion against her transfer. Apart from that, the page had a link to the official R Nishanthini profile page.For some unknown reason which baffles the best of us, R Nishanthini IPS chose the circuitous route of lodging a police complaint to bring down a page which was used to offer a dissenting opinion against a government action.It seems that Thrissur Police Commissioner R. Nishanthini IPS has quite a lackadaisical approach to the right to freedom of expression enshrined in our constitution. Not long ago, this right to freedom of expression was further strengthened by a landmark Supreme Court judgment which upheld the right to protest as a fundamental right of speech and to assemble.Clearly R Nishanthini IPS, has a lot to answer to the people. At the time of finishing this article, R Nishanthini’s last status update on Facebook showed “ feeling proud” . I am sure, she is.TweetDisclaimer: The opinions expressed in this articles are the personal opinions of the author. The News Minute is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, suitability or validity of any information in this article. The information, facts or opinions appearing in this article do not reflect the views of The News Minute and The News Minute does not assume any liability on the same.