Kurkure with a twist

'John Doe' order is neither practical nor prudent

PepsiCo has received an interim order in its favour from the Delhi High Court under the Information Technology (Intermediaries) Guidelines Rules, 2011. The court directed popular social media platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram to remove posts that alleged that the popular branded snack, Kurkure, contained plastic. However, more than anything else, this highlights the weaknesses of the current civil defamation mechanisms as far as they pertain to the web and social media content. This is an anonymous "Ashok Kumar" order, which allows for the removal of online content created by unknown persons. Unlike conventional cases, where specific