The Delhi high court has indicated that the Union government has the power to direct social media intermediaries to act against viral posts falsely claiming that top Indian officials attended a badminton tournament in London.
Justice Tejas Karia made the oral observations while hearing a petition filed by the Badminton Association of India (BAI), which sought removal of social media content alleging that a large Indian delegation comprising senior judges and ministers had attended a badminton event in the United Kingdom.
The Centre argued that despite efforts to publicly clarify the facts, the misinformation campaign continued to spread online, warranting intervention to identify those responsible for originating and amplifying the false claims.
Justice Karia observed that social media platforms and intermediaries could be required to furnish basic information on users responsible for disseminating such content, while emphasizing that any further action would lie within the statutory framework administered by the Union government.
