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The Bombay High Court on Wednesday granted interim relief to Union minister Nitin Gadkari, ordering Meta, X and Google to immediately remove all the "vile, abusive, obscene and defamatory" social media posts targeting him. A single-judge bench of Justice Arif Doctor issued the direction while hearing a civil defamation suit filed by the Minister for Road Transport and Highways challenging a series of AI-generated deepfake videos and manipulated digital posts that falsely alleged Gadkari and his family received illegal financial benefits from the Centre's ethanol-blended petrol (E20) initiative. "These posts, on the face of it, are abusive, vile, and obscene," Justice Doctor said, adding, "The material on the face of it is absolutely vile and abusive. Such material should have no place on a public platform, which is accessible to everyone, including the younger generation." The bench directed Meta, X Corp and Google LLC to ensure forthwith that the posts are taken down. Justice Doct
A Parliamentary panel has summoned representatives of major social media platforms, including Instagram, along with officials of the ministries of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and Home Affairs, on August 3 to discuss regulation of social media and digital platforms. BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, who chairs the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology, said the panel has called representatives of Meta (Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp), Google, X (formerly Twitter) and Snapchat to explain how they protect the privacy of women, children, farmers, rural residents, labourers and the general public, and ensure public order. The meeting comes days after social media, particularly Instagram, was extensively used by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) to publicise and mobilise participants for its student protest at Jantar Mantar. The demonstrations, which were held over the NEET-UG paper leak and other issues, drew widespread attention online, ..
The Bombay High Court on Monday permitted Union Minister Nitin Gadkari to file a civil suit against Meta Platforms, X Corp, Google LLC and other unknown persons over "defamatory" deepfakes and AI-generated posts uploaded against him. The Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways and senior BJP leader had filed a leave petition under Clause XII of Letters Patent, a procedural requirement wherein permission of the court is sought before filing of a suit, when part of the cause of action arises outside the territorial jurisdiction of the high court. Such leave (permission) is necessary to enable the court to hear and decide a suit despite jurisdictional limitations. Gadkari's leave petition came up for hearing on Monday before a single bench of Justice Abhay Ahuja. His lawyer Sandeep Ladda submitted that online platforms have made alleged defamatory and deepfake content publicly available, including to users in Maharashtra. Since this content is accessible here, Ladda argued that