Online posts against Nitin Gadkari 'vile, obscene and abusive', says Mumbai HC; orders takedown
The Bombay High Court has mandated an immediate removal of offensive and defamatory posts from social media, labeling them as abusive and obscene. Justice Arif Doctor emphasized the need for online platforms like Meta, X Corp, and Google LLC to act. The court also inquired about their procedures for voluntary content removal and scheduled a follow-up hearing in four weeks.
The Bombay High Court issued an interim order on Wednesday to remove deepfake content from social media platforms, which alleged a link between Union road minister Nitin Gadkari and his family to the Centre's E20 ethanol-blending programme. Justice Arif Doctor expressed concern over the "vile and abusive" nature of the material, stating it has no place on public platforms accessible to all, including young people.
Meta and Google have agreed to take down the flagged content. Gadkari filed the suit, alleging that deepfake posts falsely connected him and his family to financial benefits from the E20 programme, damaging his reputation. The E20 programme mixes 20% ethanol with 80% petrol to lessen India's reliance on crude oil imports. The court urged platforms like Meta and Google to implement measures for swiftly removing harmful content, such as enhanced AI detection, KYC-backed accountability, and proactive removal of deepfake content.
Gadkari was granted the right to inform platforms about any future defamatory content. The matter will be revisited in four weeks.
Written by urgent.news from Live Mint's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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