A controversial law that meant people in India could be arrested for posts or comments they made on sites like Facebook and Twitter has been struck down by the country's supreme court.
The court ruled in a 200-page judgement Tuesday that Section 66A of India's Information Technology Act was unconstitutional.
Under the law, which received presidential assent in 2009, people could be jailed for up to three years for sending emails or messages online that caused annoyance or inconvenience.
In 2012, there was outrage after two young women were arrested under the law for their activity on Facebook after the death of a local politician, Bal Thackeray. One of the two merely "liked" a comment criticising the shutdown of Mumbai following Thackeray's death.
There have been at least 10 recent cases, mostly involving criticism of politicians, including one last week where a student was jailed for allegedly posting a comment criticising a state minister.
In its ruling, the Supreme Court said the provision was "clearly vague" in not clarifying what should be construed as offensive. It also said the provision violates people's freedom of speech and their right to share information.
"The public's right to know is directly affected," the judges said.
A 24-year-old law student who filed the challenge in 2012, Shreya Singhal, welcomed the court's rejection of a provision she said was "grossly offensive to our rights, our freedom of speech and expression."
"Today the Supreme Court has upheld that, they have supported our rights," Singhal said. "I am ecstatic."
Twitter's official account in India welcomed the announcement:
We have a history of defending our users' voices. We welcome SC's action affirming the rights of users to freely express themselves. #Sec66A— Twitter India (@TwitterIndia) March 24, 2015
Additional reporting by The Associated Press.