Kerala Cabinet decides to request Governor Arif Muhammad Khan to promulgate a “withdrawal” ordinance to revoke the controversial executive order that sought to empower the police to prosecute persons disseminating defamatory content.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that different quarters had expressed concern that Section 118-A of the amended Kerala Police Act (KPA), 2011, bestowed unfettered powers on the law enforcement to curtail free speech and media freedom.
Chief Minister said that the government had introduced the amendment in good faith. It sought to give more teeth to the police to crackdown on vile and hateful social media messaging that targeted women, children, transgender people and other vulnerable sections of society. Its intent was not to curb reportage, political satire, opinion, free speech, impartial journalism or commentary.
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