The Delhi High Court has directed the removal of objectionable and derogatory content published online against actor Tabu, holding that material of an obscene and defamatory nature cannot be permitted to remain accessible on digital platforms.
Justice Saurabh Banerjee passed the interim order while hearing a suit instituted by the actor, who sought protection against the circulation of content allegedly carrying false, sexually explicit and disparaging statements affecting her reputation and privacy.
The Court observed that a prima facie case had been made out for the grant of interim relief. It noted that the impugned material appeared to be intended to malign the plaintiff’s image and had the potential to cause irreparable injury to her reputation if allowed to remain in the public domain.
Accordingly, the High Court directed the concerned online intermediaries and digital platforms to take down or disable access to the specified content identified by the plaintiff. The Court also restrained the defendants from publishing, reposting or further disseminating the impugned material or any substantially similar content during the pendency of the proceedings.
While granting interim protection, the Court recorded that the balance of convenience lay in favour of the plaintiff, particularly in view of the continuing availability of the allegedly offensive content on the internet. It observed that allowing such material to remain online could result in irreversible reputational harm.
The High Court further directed the concerned intermediaries to comply with the take-down directions in accordance with the provisions of the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the applicable Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.
Notice was issued to the defendants, who have been granted time to file their replies to the suit and the interim application.
The matter has been listed for further proceedings on a later date.
The order underscores the High Court’s continuing exercise of its equitable jurisdiction to protect an individual’s reputation and privacy against the dissemination of allegedly obscene, defamatory and misleading content through online platforms, pending final adjudication of the civil proceedings.
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