{"id":1301702,"date":"2025-10-23T15:16:04","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T09:46:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/?p=1301702"},"modified":"2025-10-23T15:18:39","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T09:48:39","slug":"unsaid-words-on-whatsapp-can-spread-hate-rules-allahabad-high-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/unsaid-words-on-whatsapp-can-spread-hate-rules-allahabad-high-court\/","title":{"rendered":"Unsaid Words On Whatsapp Can Spread Hate, Rules Allahabad High Court"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>In a significant ruling, the Allahabad High Court has said that a WhatsApp message can promote religious enmity even if it doesn\u2019t explicitly mention religion. The decision came while dismissing a plea filed by Bijnor resident Afaq Ahmad, who sought to quash an FIR accusing him of spreading religious hatred through a WhatsApp message.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"538\" src=\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/130115-mbqkcaygfn-1610252366-1-1024x538.jpg\" alt=\"Unsaid Words On Whatsapp Can Spread Hate, Rules Allahabad High Court\" class=\"wp-image-1301704\" srcset=\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/130115-mbqkcaygfn-1610252366-1-1024x538.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/130115-mbqkcaygfn-1610252366-1-300x158.jpg 300w, https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/130115-mbqkcaygfn-1610252366-1-768x403.jpg 768w, https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/130115-mbqkcaygfn-1610252366-1.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The Case: A Message After His Brother\u2019s Arrest<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Afaq Ahmad\u2019s brother, Arif Ahmad, was arrested in July under charges of <a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/cities\/lucknow\/even-unsaid-words-in-whatsapp-message-can-promote-enmity-says-allahabad-high-court-10321629\/\">unlawful religious conversion<\/a>, forgery, and criminal intimidation. Following the arrest, Afaq sent a WhatsApp message alleging that his brother was \u201cframed under political pressure\u201d and that a \u201cboycott\u201d of his family\u2019s business had been called. He also expressed fear of being lynched, though the message included repeated faith in the judiciary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Court Interprets the \u2018Subtle Message\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Allahabad High Court noted that while Afaq\u2019s message did not directly mention religion, it implied that his brother was targeted due to belonging to a particular community. The bench of Justices J J Munir and Pramod Kumar Srivastava said these \u201cunsaid words\u201d and \u201csubtle suggestions\u201d were enough to \u201coutrage religious feelings\u201d and \u201ccreate ill-will between communities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Legal and Social Implications<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>This ruling expands the interpretation of what constitutes promoting enmity between communities. It emphasizes that digital communication, including indirect messages, can have serious legal consequences if they are seen to carry communal undertones. The court\u2019s stance underscores growing judicial scrutiny over social media content that might trigger tension or disrupt communal harmony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Next Steps in the Case<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>While Afaq maintains his message was an emotional reaction and not hate speech, the High Court has allowed the police investigation to continue. Meanwhile, additional FIRs have been filed against his relatives, and authorities in Bijnor are expected to file a chargesheet soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/scroll.in\/magazine\/1016145\/interview-the-complex-truth-of-misinformation-and-hatred-on-whatsapp-in-india\">Image Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a significant ruling, the Allahabad High Court has said that a WhatsApp message can promote religious enmity even if it doesn\u2019t explicitly mention religion. The decision came while dismissing a plea filed by Bijnor resident Afaq Ahmad, who sought to quash an FIR accusing him of spreading religious hatred through a WhatsApp message. The [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":1301704,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[8863],"class_list":["post-1301702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-wahtsapp"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Unsaid Words On Whatsapp Can Spread Hate, Rules Allahabad High Court - Trak.in - Indian Business of Tech, Mobile &amp; Startups<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/unsaid-words-on-whatsapp-can-spread-hate-rules-allahabad-high-court\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Unsaid Words On Whatsapp Can Spread Hate, Rules Allahabad High Court - Trak.in - Indian Business of Tech, Mobile &amp; Startups\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In a significant ruling, the Allahabad High Court has said that a WhatsApp message can promote religious enmity even if it doesn\u2019t explicitly mention religion. 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