New Delhi, February 17 Social media platform X told the Delhi High Court on Tuesday that any content related to satire, fair comment, and public speech should be protected from takedown orders in cases seeking protection of personal rights.
Justice Jyoti Singh was hearing a lawsuit filed by Baba Ramdev, alleging large-scale misappropriation and commercial exploitation of his personality, image, and identity across various online and social media platforms.
The lawyer for X, formerly Twitter, opposed the "unrestricted" blocking of accounts in cases involving personal rights, arguing that such orders have a chilling effect on freedom of speech.
He also cited a post mentioned in Ramdev's lawsuit, a meme, and contended that it was satire, which is protected in a democracy.
"This is purely satire. I don't understand how this violates personal rights. This is protected. Satire, fair comment, and public speech are protected under personal rights. Satire is a part of democracy. There can be no democracy without free speech," he said.
X's lawyer also said that one of the objectionable accounts on its platform, bearing his name, was merely a parody account, which should be protected in this case.
Similarly, the lawyer for Meta Platforms also said that while they were not opposed to taking down egregious content, there must be some "tangible monetization" by a third party, especially when a global blocking order was being sought.
He also stated that most offending content was from news organizations, and in case of any grievance, Ramdev should sue them for any incorrect information.
"You cannot have a personal right against a news channel when they put your name in a news article," the lawyer said, raising concerns about the impact on fair reporting.
Both X and Meta Platforms said they have taken down certain offending content.
The lawyer representing Ramdev said that social media platforms should be fair, and the content in question was damaging his reputation.
In his lawsuit, Ramdev said that several entities on social media platforms have published and circulated AI-generated deepfake videos, doctored images, etc., to commercially gain from and exploit various aspects of his personality, amounting to infringement of his personal and publicity rights and violating his fundamental rights under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.
"The pattern of AI manipulation and impersonation carries the risk of irreversible dilution of the Plaintiff's spiritual persona, where it was held that the sanctity of a spiritual leader's identity warrants heightened protection," the lawsuit said.
"The dissemination of these infringing materials is continuous, borderless, and capable of instantaneous replication, and persists despite the knowledge and hosting by major intermediaries such as Google (YouTube), Meta Platforms Inc. (Facebook/Instagram), 10 and X-Corp. The infringing content continues to be widely accessible within the territorial jurisdiction of this Hon'ble Court, resulting in recurring harm and a persistent cause of action," it added.
The matter will be heard again on February 18.