The Lahore High Court (LHC) ruled on Thursday that merely creating, administering or joining a WhatsApp group does not automatically make a person criminally liable for messages shared by other members.
In a significant judgment, Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh observed that criminal liability must be based on an individual’s own identifiable actions rather than their status as a group creator, administrator or member.
The court held that a WhatsApp administrator generally has no authority to screen or approve messages before they are posted and cannot be held vicariously liable for objectionable content shared by others unless there is evidence of common intention, conspiracy, abetment or active participation in disseminating unlawful material.
The observations were made while dismissing a post-arrest bail petition filed by a suspect in a cybercrime case involving allegations of sharing blasphemous content through WhatsApp groups.
According to the prosecution, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) alleged that the petitioner personally uploaded and circulated the offensive material after an inquiry based on complaints and screenshots shared by members of the groups.