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Former Chief Justice Of India DY Chandrachud on Sunday suggested that in the age of social media trolling, judges should be trained to handle the internet. He also quipped that he has been trolled on social media not just once, but several times during his term - something that he even said during his parting speech earlier this year.
"Maybe the judges should also be trained. In the age of social media, how will you handle the internet, the trolling? So I think it's necessary for all the judges to go through training," he said while speaking at News Agency's Samvidhan @ 75 event.
According to Mr Chandrachud, people are now living in a new normal called the "post-truth society".
"The times have changed now...In 1950, there was no social media, no internet. Now, the Constitution has gone through the process of 75 years of evolution. We are now living in a new normal - some call it the post-truth society," he told News Agency.
Asked if the social media trolling affects judges, Mr Chandrachud said, "Yes..I have been trolled on social media not once but several times."
The former Chief Justice has been the subject of several troll attacks during his time in office.
According to Mr Chandrachud, social media is not just merely a form of communication but also a powerful means of affecting outcomes in society.
"...Because obviously, today there are special interest groups, pressure groups who are trying to use social media to affect the minds of the courts and the outcomes of cases. Every citizen is entitled to understand what is the basis of a decision and to express their opinions on the decisions of the court. But when this goes beyond the decisions of the court and targets individual judges, then it sort of raises fundamental questions about - Is this truly freedom of speech and expression?" he said.
The former Chief Justice said that in today's time, everybody's attention span on social media is 20 seconds with the development of 'shorts' - short-timed videos on YouTube, similar to 'reels' on Instagram.
"Even I watch them now sometimes," he chuckled.
"Everybody, therefore wants to form an opinion in 20 seconds of what they see on YouTube or any social media platform. This poses a grave danger because the process of decision-making in the courts is far more serious. It is really nuanced that nobody has the patience or the tolerance today on social media to understand, and that is a very serious issue that is confronting the Indian judiciary," Mr Chandrachud said.
Citing an example of court cases being discussed on social media, Mr Chandrachud said, "Judges have to be very careful about the fact that they are constantly being subject to this barrage of special interest groups trying to alter the decisions of what happens in the courts."
"Ultimately, there are fundamental values of freedom of speech and expression which are involved. So speaking for my speaking for myself, I have been a proponent of giving the maximum freedom to the freedom of speech and expression. That's really what the Constitution is all about," he said.