New Delhi: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday directed the immediate removal of all defamatory social media posts targeting Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, describing the content as “completely vile, abusive, and obscene.” The court also instructed Meta, X Corp, and Google LLC to ensure that the objectionable posts are taken down without delay.
What did the court say?
A single bench of Justice Arif Doctor on Wednesday granted interim relief to Nitin Gadkari and also directed Meta, X Corp, and Google LLC to ensure that the posts are taken down.
While giving the verdict, the court has ordered the removal of the defamatory content related to ethanol. The court reprimanded the lawyers of the social media platform and directed that the defamatory content about Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari be removed.
“With all this technology at your disposal, don’t you have some mechanism where there should be triggers? If someone upholds something vulgar or abusive, it should immediately be picked up and deleted. This is absolutely vile. Someone is just spewing venom,” Justice Doctor said.
The Union Minister had filed a petition in the Bombay High Court in this matter. He told the court that misleading, defamatory, indecent and fake videos regarding ethanol were posted on social media. His family was linked to E20 through deepfake and AI videos.
What did Nitin Gadkari say?
In his petition, Nitin Gadkari said that several posts and videos on social media have alleged that Gadkari, along with his family members, were deriving financial gains from the ethanol policy of the central government. He refuted those allegations as false and baseless. He stated that these allegations are made up to create confusion among the public about him.
In an ongoing defamation suit filed against Meta, X Corp, Google, and unknown online content creators for making defamatory and manipulated social media posts against him, Nitin Gadkari said that he and his family members are the subject matter of AI-generated deepfake videos and misleading social media posts which falsely associate their names with the economic gains derived through the E20 ethanol blended petrol policy.
What about defamation charges?
Nitin Gadkari had filed the defamation suit against the major social media platforms in the Bombay High Court, wherein it is mentioned that the ethanol blending scheme is executed by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, not by his department. He asked the court to give a directive to remove the defamatory digital content and sought damages of Rs 11 crore for defamation.
