Digital Intimacy and the Law: A Study on Consent, Privacy, and Punishment under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita

Abstract

The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, is a significant legal development in India's approach to digital-mediated intimacy-related offenses. Nonetheless, the fluid nature of the digital consent, as well as the development of new/novel technologies, including deepfakes and AIgenerated content, makes the BNS less effective in its fight against digital sexual harms. This paper is a synthesis of the recent research works as it aims to explore the response of the BNS to its changing conceptualisation of consent, privacy and accountability in the digital intimacy. It highlights the weaknesses of the BNS gender-specific problems, lacking implementation procedures, and gaps in the evidence that fail to capture the relationship and contextual nature of digital violations of consent. The paper suggests legal changes, which include a dedicated offence of digital intimacy harms, which is not gender-based, the positive elements of consent, and the responsibility of platforms. It further reiterates the necessity of specialised training in cyber forensics, victim-oriented enforcement practices, and judicial training on a relational-based consent model. These reforms are expected to develop a culturally sensitive legal ecosystem that supports individual autonomy, privacy and dignity online and to respond to the gendered power imbalance and technological incomprehensiveness of digital sexual violence.