The Delhi High Court has observed that social media intermediaries cannot remain passive when content hosted on their platforms interferes with judicial independence or seeks to malign judges, public institutions and individuals.
The Division Bench of Justice Neena Bansal Krishna and Justice Madhu Jain held on Monday that intermediaries are under a statutory obligation to act against such unlawful content and need not wait for specific court orders before disabling access to it.
The observations were made while hearing a criminal contempt petition filed by the Delhi High Court Bar Association (DHCBA) against an individual accused of publishing derogatory content targeting a sitting High Court judge.
Referring to Section 79 of the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000, the Bench emphasised that intermediaries risk losing the protection available under the safe harbour regime if they fail to act upon knowledge of unlawful content hosted on their platforms. Once an intermediary becomes aware that any information, data, communication link or other content is being used to facilitate an unlawful act, it is obligated to expeditiously remove or disable access to such material from resources under its control, it noted.
The Court underlined that while individuals responsible for publishing scandalous or unlawful material must be dealt with strictly in accordance with law, social media platforms cannot remain silent spectators and indefinitely wait for judicial directions before taking remedial measures.
Observing that digital platforms and social media tools play a significant role in modern communication, the Bench stated that any attempt to use such platforms to undermine the administration of justice, interfere with judicial independence or damage the reputation of constitutional institutions could not be tolerated in a country governed by the rule of law and constitutional values.
The Court directed major social media intermediaries, including YouTube, X, LinkedIn and Meta, to block the accounts of Dr Kapil Kakkar and remove content uploaded by him on their platforms. It noted that Kakkar had published posts and videos in which he allegedly attributed responsibility to a sitting High Court judge for the deaths of six persons in a building collapse that occurred in Delhi’s Saket area last month. The content also contained allegations of corruption, collusion and criminal conduct against the judge.
While examining the nature of the publications, the Bench clarified that fair criticism of judicial orders, judgments, and institutions was permissible in a democratic society. However, unfounded allegations imputing corruption, criminality, collusion or improper motives to judges, without any legal basis or supporting material, could not be regarded as legitimate criticism protected under principles of free speech, it added.
After reviewing the material placed on record, the Court held that the videos and posts published by Kakkar were prima facie scandalous and contemptuous in nature. It further observed that the publications amounted to a direct attack on the justice delivery system and constituted interference with the administration of justice. Accordingly, the Bench directed the concerned intermediaries to block the accounts and remove the offending content from their platforms.
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