New Delhi, Oct 26;
The Indian government should stay away from putting any curbs on freedom of expression as the “age of bans is over”, Information and Broadcasting minister Arun Jaitley said today, but maintained that restrictions imposed in the Constitution play an important role in the larger interest.
Delivering the Sardar Patel lecture organised by All India Radio (AIR) here, the Union minister noted that while the right to freedom of expression has expanded in India through successive judicial verdicts and technological advances, its misuse also continue to happen.
He reiterated that the government will not step into curbing the right to freedom of expression. The minister noted that while print media and to a large extent electronic media adopt discretion in their content, social media completely lacks such a mechanism.
He pointed out that makers of the Constitution rightly held that freedom of speech and expression is not absolute and subject to reasonable restrictions which were specifically defined.
