How can this be tolerated? Delhi HC reprimands YouTube in Aaradhya Bachchan Case

The Delhi High Court on Thursday while hearing the case of Amitabh Bachchan's minor granddaughter Aaradhya reprimanded video platform YouTube for the dissemination of misleading information related to a child. During the hearing, Justice C Hari Shankar termed videos on a Youtube channel for spreading fake news about her health as completely “intolerable in the name of the law”. Aaradhya Bachchan, the daughter of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan, moved the Delhi High Court against a YouTube channel for reporting ‘fake news’ about her health where she has sought an injunction against such reporting about her as she is a minor. 

The Court lambasted YouTube asking whether it has any responsibility and policy regarding handling such issues as the video platform was being used to only misinform the public. "Why don't you have some policy in these matters? When you're told these types of YouTube are circulating, should there not be some way of handling these things? You're a YouTube platform, don't you have some responsibility for such kinds of things?” the court asked YouTube, which is owned by search giant Google. The court added, "You mean to say you're only providing a facility for people to only misinform the public!!! You are providing a platform on which misleading information is circulating to the public. How can such a thing be tolerated?"

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The court further questioned the YouTube counsel, "Are you not profiting from each one of these? Are you allowing people to upload for free?" The Delhi High Court’s razor-sharp observations come in the backdrop of the ongoing debate of whether tech giants need to step forth and take responsibility of the content hosted on their platform. YouTube, which at an average hosts an estimated average of 2,500 fresh videos per minute on a daily basis, has been hauled up for what may be seen as an arms length approach vis-a-via the content of the videos themselves. With the revision of the IT rules and India adopting a strong outlook to ensure responsibility is taken with precision and the policies of big tech platforms are revised in tune with the law of the land, the latest Delhi High Court observations re-iterate the commitment that New India has adopted vis-a-vis cyber security and responsibility.

What Is Aaradhya Bachchan Case?

According to the petition, the defendants were trying to use the Bachchan family name to spread false, distasteful and defamatory information. This was just to gain popularity and gain views on their YouTube channels. The petition reportedly directs the 10 defendants to immediately “de-list and deactivate all videos.” Amitabh Bachchan's granddaughter has reportedly also made Google LLC and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Grievance Cell) as parties in the case.

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As per reports, the Bachchan family is seeking a direction to ensure that all the access of these 10 defendants is disabled for uploading such content. The petition has been filed by the law firm Anand and Naik. They alleged that by uploading such fake news against Aaradhya Bachchan, they have violated her rights and have attempted to tarnish her goodwill and reputation. Not just her name, but they have also exploited the name of the Bachchan family.