New Delhi, July 1: The Delhi High Court has ordered several online platforms to remove defamatory social media posts targeting Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha. The court emphasized that while political satire and criticism are essential to democracy, “derogatory and vulgar” content cannot be protected under the guise of harmless humor.
In an interim order, a single-judge bench led by Justice Subramanium Prasad directed defendants two and four, which are intermediary platforms, to remove specified URLs within two weeks. They were also instructed to provide Chadha with basic subscriber information (BSI) and IP logs related to the accounts associated with the posts within the same timeframe.
The court identified documents numbered 2, 8, 9, 11, 25, and 40 as containing offensive material that is obscene and vulgar, falling outside the realm of harmless satirical humor. Therefore, it deemed it appropriate to restrain defendant one from publishing such content and directed defendants two and four to remove the URLs linked to these specific documents.
However, the bench, presided over by Justice Prasad, declined to order the removal of the remaining contested content. It noted that most of the 52 documents presented were related to criticisms of Chadha’s political decisions after his transition from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The court remarked that humor related to political alliances, governance, and policy changes is an integral part of political discourse. Public figures in such positions of power should consider facing satirical humor as an essential and unavoidable aspect of their profession, even if it is unpleasant.
Additionally, the Delhi High Court clarified its stance against the use of artificial intelligence (AI) for creating deepfake or morphed content intended to harm an individual’s dignity. The ruling stated that the court does not support the use of AI for producing deepfake videos or altered images when aimed at undermining a person’s dignity.
The court further asserted that a balance must be struck between an individual’s right to dignity and the constitutional guarantee of freedom of expression.
Chadha had filed a petition in the High Court seeking protection of his personality and publicity rights against the alleged unauthorized use of his name, image, likeness, and identity on online and digital platforms, including AI-generated, deepfake, and morphed content.
Welcoming the decision, Chadha’s representatives, advocates Satya Anand and Nikhil Aradhye, stated that this ruling is a significant step towards addressing organized online defamation. They described the order issued by the single judge of the Delhi High Court as a welcome development.
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