Amitabh Bachchan’s granddaughter Aaradhya, 11, has sought an injunction against such media coverage of her because she is underage.
Published Date – Thu 20 Apr 23 at 03:30pm
New Delhi: On Thursday, the Delhi High Court banned some YouTube channels from distributing or continuing to broadcast videos that made false claims about Aaradhya Bachchan, the daughter of Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan.
Amitabh Bachchan’s granddaughter Aaradhya, 11, has sought an injunction against such media coverage of her because she is underage.
In issuing the guilty plea notice, Judge C. Hari Shankar prohibited the YouTube channel and its affiliates from distributing or continuing to broadcast the videos named in the complaint.
“Defendants 1-9 are also prohibited from posting, uploading or disseminating any video with the same or similar content as the video that forms the subject of the above URL. It was clarified that this would include all videos involving Plaintiff’s physical condition. dissemination of information pertaining to the plaintiff’s physical and mental health on any platform available on the Internet,” the court said.
Notably, Google LLC and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Grievance Cell) also became parties to the case, with the former being directed to disclose the identity of the defendants to Bachchans and take immediate steps to deactivate the URL mentioned in the complaint.
“Should Plaintiff become aware of any other video clips uploaded on its platform involving Plaintiff’s physical health and well-being, Google will take immediate steps to remove them,” the judge said.
The court also ordered the center to disable access to all content and any other videos or clips with comparable content.
Further directs Google to clarify its policy and demonstrate compliance with the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines Digital Media Ethics) Rules to demonstrate that it has changed its policy to comply with the amendments made.
The court noted that while this is not the first case in which false information about a celebrity has been shared, when it comes to children it shows pathological capriciousness and complete disregard for the children involved.
“Every child has the right to be respected and respected, whether he/she is the child of a celebrity or a commoner. Disseminating information about a child’s physical and mental health is totally unacceptable in law,” the judge said.
The Bachchan family allege they saw multiple videos on YouTube claiming that Aaradhya was very ill and had been admitted to hospital.
One of the videos even said she had passed away.
They argue that the videos further claim that the Bachchans did nothing to get the child to a doctor immediately.
However, Aaradhya is in good health and is not hospitalized, according to the complaint filed.
Representing Aaradhya, senior counsel Dayan Krishnan referred to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Code of Ethics for Digital Media) rules, which require intermediaries to conduct due diligence on content harmful to children.
“In the age of social media, reputations of public figures have become child’s play, where children have to suffer,” he said.
The plaintiffs allege the videos violated the plaintiffs’ privacy rights and damaged the Bachchan family’s reputation.
