The Delhi High Court has ruled that social media platforms must promptly remove unlawful content that maligns institutions and individuals, including the judiciary, without waiting for court directions.
A vacation bench of Justices Neena Bansal Krishna and Madhu Jain stated that intermediaries cannot remain silent spectators when such content comes to their notice.
The court made the observations in its June 8 order on a plea moved by the Delhi High Court Bar Association seeking criminal contempt proceedings against Dr Kapil Kakkar over social media posts accusing a sitting judge of being a murderer.
The court directed Meta, Google LLC, X Corp and LinkedIn to take down the content, block URLs containing the impugned videos and suspend Kakkar's social media accounts and handles within 24 hours.
