Women who recently participated in protests at New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar are finding themselves at the centre of an online backlash.Social media accounts have shared videos and photographs of a number of such women at the protests, and made public their personal details such as phone numbers and home addresses. This has resulted in several instances of harassment, including rape and death threats.The act of publicly revealing private personal information to intimidate or shame someone is known as doxxing. Despite its severe real-world consequences, doxxing is not explicitly defined or penalised as a criminal offence under Indian law. Legal experts point out that victims have to navigate a patchwork of existing statutes under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act to find recourse.Navigating the lawThe issue must be viewed in two parts, Supreme Court lawyer Shruti Narayan told The Indian Express: The dissemination of personal information, and the subsequent threats or harassment based on that information. The latter is easier to prosecute under criminal law.If doxxing leads to someone monitoring a woman’s internet use or trying to contact her repeatedly, it attracts Section 78 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which deals with stalking.Similarly, rape and death threats fall under Section 351 of the BNS, which criminalises criminal intimidation. If the victim is a minor, Section 12 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act — which penalises sexual harassment of minors — is attracted as well.Also Read | FIR over comments on PM Modi: Is crude language a crime in India?Supreme Court lawyer Prasanna S said that if the doxxing involves the publication of pictures that humiliate a woman, it can trigger Section 79 of the BNS — which punishes acts “intended to insult the modesty of a woman” and those that “intrude upon the privacy of… a woman”.Story continues below this adIf the published content relates to the violation of one’s reputation, provisions for criminal defamation can also be invoked, he added.However, when it comes to the mere publication of personal data, the law is uncertain. Prasanna explained that the act of doxxing itself is largely treated as a civil offence under the Information Technology Act, rather than a criminal one, “unless intimate images are shared”.Section 66E of the IT Act criminalises the capturing or publishing of images of private body parts without consent. For general personal data, victims have to rely on Section 72A of the Information Technology Act, which penalises the unauthorised disclosure of information. However, this section primarily provides for a financial penalty of up to Rs 5 lakh, making it a civil wrong, rather than a criminal offence.Seeking police help is further complicated for some of the Jantar Mantar protesters, as they are already facing police FIRs for their protest slogans. Narayan suggested that in such situations, victims should approach the police through a lawyer to specifically emphasise the immediate threats to their life and physical safety.Platform accountabilityStory continues below this adVictims can also hold social media platforms accountable. Under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, platforms are legally obligated to make reasonable efforts to prevent users from hosting information that is “invasive of another’s privacy including bodily privacy, insulting or harassing on the basis of gender”.The rules mandate strict timelines for platforms to act. Intermediaries are required to acknowledge complaints within twenty-four hours and resolve them within seven days.However, for complaints regarding content that falls under specific severe categories — such as privacy invasions or harassment — the timeline is expedited, and platforms must resolve the issue within 36 hours.Also Read | ‘First and last mistake’: Girl apologises for abusing PM Modi at CJP protestIf a platform fails to comply with these rules or ignores court orders, it risks losing its “safe harbour” protection — a legal immunity that shields tech companies from being prosecuted for what users post on their sites.Story continues below this adIn practice, however, “different platforms of course have varying levels of responsiveness and safety tools,” said Namrata Maheshwari, Asia Pacific Policy Manager and Global Encryption Policy Lead at Access Now, an international digital rights organisation.For immediate relief, lawyers advise victims to preserve all evidence, including screenshots and URLs of the abusive posts. Maheshwari recommended reporting such content using the platform’s internal tools and filing a formal complaint on the government’s National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal. She also highlighted that victims can reach out to digital security helplines run by non-profit organisations, such as Access Now and Point of View, which often provide prompt preventive as well as remedial assistance.