Mumbai court issues contempt notice to Sundar Pichai over YouTube's non-compliance
Mumbai: A Mumbai court has issued a contempt notice to Google CEO Sundar Pichai over YouTube's failure to comply with a takedown order concerning a video allegedly defaming the Dhyan Foundation and its founder, Yogi Ashwini.
The Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate's Court at Ballard Pier issued the notice on November 21, with the contempt petition filed by the Dhyan Foundation now set for hearing on January 3, 2025.
The controversy began in March 2023 when the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate of the 38th Court, Ballard Pier, directed YouTube to remove a video titled "Pakhandi Baba ki Kartut". The NGO alleged that the video contained baseless and malicious allegations that harmed its reputation.
YouTube, owned by Google, argued that as an intermediary under the Information Technology Act, it was immune from liability for such content and claimed that defamation does not fall within the purview of s. 69-A of the Act, which deals with content blocking. The platform contended that such disputes should be addressed in civil courts.
Rejecting YouTube’s technical objections, the court maintained that criminal courts were not barred from intervening in such matters. The court also noted that the defamatory nature of the video was undisputed and warned that its circulation could pose a threat to public peace.
The Dhyan Foundation alleged that YouTube’s non-compliance with the takedown order led to the filing of the contempt petition in October 2023, with the notice being issued a year later in November 2024.
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Notices issued to Himachal conductor, driver for anti-Rahul Gandhi audio clip playing in govt bus
Shimla, Nov 30: After finding itself in soup over a CID enquiry on "missing samosas", the Himachal Pradesh government is again in a tight spot for issuing notices to a state roadways conductor and driver after an audio clip with defamatory remarks against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was allegedly played in their bus.
A man in his complaint to the Chief Minister's Office said defamatory words were used against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav and other leaders in an audio clip which was played in the Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) bus plying between Shimla and Sanjauli on November 5.
In a letter to the conductor and driver of the bus on November 25, the HRTC sought explanation from them. The letter went viral on the internet.
Talking to reporters on Friday, HRTC Managing Director Rohan Chand Thakur said a routine complaint was received from a customer after which a fact finding enquiry was initiated. The enquiry was closed as the allegations were found baseless.
However, the wording of the explanation sought could have been better and the officers have been verbally conveyed to improve in the coming times, he added.
The defamatory words were allegedly used in a debate being played in the audio clip.
Reacting sharply to the letter, BJP MLA from Dharamshala, Sudhir Sharma, said the government should appoint marshals to stop audios being played in buses.
"Such decisions of the government are damaging the reputation of the state government as well as the state," he added.
Earlier, the state CID department had ordered an internal enquiry on the samosas which were brought for Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu during a function and by mistake were served to the his security staff. A senior police official had termed the faux pas as an anti-CID and ant-Government act.
