The Delhi High Court on Thursday barred a bunch of YouTube channels from spreading or further transmitting videos containing false allegations regarding Amitabh Bachchan’s 11-year-old granddaughter, Aaradhya Bachchan’s physical and mental health conditions.
While granting notice on Bachchan’s petition, Justice C Hari Shankar barred the YouTube channels and their associates from disseminating or further transmitting the videos specified in the plaint.
“Defendants 1-9 are also prohibited from creating, publishing, uploading, or disseminating any videos that are identical or similar in content to the videos that form the subject matter of the aforementioned URLs. It is clear that this would include any videos dealing with the plaintiff’s physical condition. In other words, defendants are prohibited from publishing information about the plaintiff’s mental or physical condition on any platform available on the internet,” the judge ruled.
Furthermore, Google was ordered to expose the defendants’ identities to the Bachchans and to take prompt steps to remove the URLs mentioned in the plaint.
“If the plaintiff brings to their attention any other videos clip uploaded on its platform dealing with the plaintiff’s physical health and wellbeing, Google will take immediate steps to remove those,” the judge stated.
The court also directed the Central Government to block access to all of the content, as well as any other similar videos or clips with similar content.
Google, the owner of YouTube, was also ordered to outline its policy demonstrating compliance with Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines Digital Media Ethics) Rules to show that it has made any changes to its policy to bring it in accordance with the amendment.
“The court will have to consider whether its policies are adequate and in accordance with the IT Rules. The D 10 is legally obligated to ensure rigorous compliance with the full statutory system that regulates it, which will include the IT Rules as changed in October 2022,” the single-judge directed.
The court stated that, while this was not the first time such misleading information about a celebrity was shared, when it related to a child, it displayed a morbid perversity with full disdain towards the child in issue.
“Every child, whether celebrity or commoner, has the right to be treated with honour and respect. Circulating information about a child’s mental and physical health is entirely impermissible under the law.”
However, the plaint stated that Aaradhya is in good health and has not been hospitalised.
Aaradhya Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan had moved before the High Court to prevent numerous YouTube channels and John Doe defendants (unknown people) from releasing information that tarnishes the Bachchan family name, reveals any details about their private lives, or is defamatory in character.
The Bachchans argued that they discovered multiple videos on YouTube claiming that Aaradhya was seriously ill and had been admitted to the hospital. One of the videos even stated that she had died. The videos further claimed that the Bachchans failed to provide the infant with prompt medical assistance.
During the hearing, Justice Shankar chastised the streaming platform for failing to carry out its responsibilities by enabling such incorrect information to be circulated over its platform.
“If you make money from what you do, you have a social responsibility. You cannot allow such content to be published on your platform. You recognize that there are some things for which you have no tolerance. Why shouldn’t something fall into that category? That means your policy is flawed,” the judge explained.
The court also stated that the platform cannot get away with claiming that it is only an intermediary and does not post such videos.
The HC suggested that YouTube implement a policy to deal with such videos.
“It is your responsibility to ensure that accurate information is disseminated.” Why don’t you have a policy in situations like this?” the bench inquired.
Senior Advocate Dayan Krishnan, who represented Aaradhya, referred to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, which require intermediaries to exercise due diligence when it comes to content that is harmful to children.
“In the age of social media, a public person’s reputation has become a child’s play, and here a child has to suffer,” he contended.
The videos, according to the complaint, violate the plaintiff’s right to privacy and degrade the goodwill associated with the Bachchan family name.
The court was also informed that the photos of Aaradhya and her family members had been distorted and misused in order to disseminate false information and generate revenues.
The photographs were transformed into a corpse in one case.
According to the plaint, despite the fact that a legal notice was sent to YouTube to delete these videos, the video-sharing network answered that it does not remove information put on its platform based on charges of defamation.
YouTube also stated that if the contact information of the illegal videos uploaders is anonymous or untraceable, they will only make it available after a court order.
As a result, damages of ₹2 crores were sought.
Senior Advocate Dayan Krishnan appeared for Aaradhya Bachchan and Amitabh Bachchan, along with Advocates Pravin Anand, Ameet Naik, Vaishali Mittal, Madhu Gadodia, Siddhant Chamola, Shivang Sharma, Hersh Desai, Pallavi Bhatnagar, Megha Chandra, Harsh Jha, Sujoy Mukherjee, and Tarini kulkarni.
