The Bombay High Court on Wednesday ordered the immediate removal of social media posts and online content targeting Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, describing them as “vile, abusive, obscene and defamatory”.
Granting interim relief to Gadkari, Justice Arif Doctor directed Meta, X Corp and Google LLC to ensure that the posts were taken down without delay.
“These posts, on the face of it, are abusive, vile and obscene,” the court observed, adding that such material should have no place online where it can be accessed by the public, particularly younger users.
The court also questioned whether online platforms had adequate mechanisms to identify and remove such content without requiring affected individuals to approach the courts.
“With all this technology at your disposal, don’t you have some mechanism where there should be triggers? If someone uploads 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 bench further observed that if similar posts, including deepfakes or AI-generated content, are uploaded in future, Gadkari may approach the platforms directly, which should then act promptly. It added that online platforms should develop mechanisms to remove such material without court intervention.
The matter has been posted for further hearing after four weeks, by which time the respondents have been directed to file their replies.
Gadkari last week filed a civil suit against Meta, X Corp, Google LLC and unidentified persons over allegedly defamatory deepfakes and AI-generated posts relating to the ethanol-blended fuel policy.
Represented by advocate Sandeep Ladda, the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways sought the immediate removal of all fabricated content, a permanent injunction against its circulation and Rs 11 crore in damages.
According to the suit, several fake and AI-generated posts falsely portrayed Gadkari as being personally responsible for the ethanol-blending programme and alleged that he and his family had benefited financially from it.
The minister argued that the posts had caused irreparable damage to his reputation and personality rights. The suit described the allegations as “false, malicious and grossly defamatory” and said they were intended to create a misleading public perception.
Gadkari also clarified that the ethanol-blending programme and the E20 policy are administered by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, and not by him personally.
The plea stated that while it did not seek to curb fair public debate or genuine criticism, the content in question had crossed the limits of lawful free speech by making reckless and defamatory allegations.
(With inputs from PTI)