600 women arrested during protest against Trump's immigration policy
Washington, June 29 : About 600 women, including some congresswomen, were arrested on Thursday after they staged a march against the immigration policy of the US President in Washington DC.
According to the Capitol Police, a total of 575 women were arrested for illegally demonstrating in a protest, which sought to express opposition against the immigration policy promoted by US President Donald Trump, which includes the detention and separation of children from their families, Efe reported.
The women were arrested, charged and subsequently released at the scene.
The arrests, which followed a morning march of hundreds of women through the streets of the US capital, occurred in the Hart building of the US Senate.
At least one congresswoman, Pramila Jayapal, who also participated in the protest, was among those arrested.
"I just got arrested with a group of at least 500 women who took over the center of the Hart Senate building protesting the inhumane and cruel policies of 'zero tolerance', the separation of families," said Democratic House Representative Pramila Jayapal, adding that "we have to stand up", and that she was "proud of being arrested with them".
The Trump Administration launched the so-called "zero tolerance" policy last April, which considers illegal border crossing as a criminal offense, meaning that immigrant minors will be separated from their families.
Earlier last week, Trump penned an executive order to end family separations at the border due to harsh criticism.
Since then, the US government has reunited 538 children with their relatives, but more than 2,000 minors still remain separated, according to data from the US Department of Homeland Security.
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Delhi HC asks social media influencer to remove videos with 'false' contents against Complan
New Delhi, Sep 27: The Delhi High Court has directed the taking down of an allegedly disparaging video against nutritional drink Complan saying social media influencers cannot be reckless and comment on a subject they are not the "master" of.
Justice Saurabh Banerjee observed that Prashant Desai, who has about one million followers on Instagram and over 60,000 followers on Facebook, spoke on the "chemistry" behind Complan despite being "neither a doctor nor a nutritionist nor a dietician" nor anyone connected with the health industry, when Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) guidelines require a user to possess relevant qualifications to publish a health-related post.
The court also restrained the content creator from publishing any matter which denigrates the product and asked him to remove the existing video from all his social media handles within a period of two weeks.
In the video, Desai claimed that Complan, as well as certain other similar products, contain sugar in excess of the daily requirement in children.
Zydus Wellness Products Ltd, in its lawsuit, argued that the video made false as well as unsubstantiated claims and, therefore, sought directions to restrain Desai from infringing upon its trade mark and disparaging Complan and Complan Pista Badam.
Asserting that a social media influencer is entitled to take recourse to Article 19 of the Constitution if he has acted verily, cautiously and within the permissible precincts, the court noted that in the present case, the content creator identified and directly targeted Complan and asked the public to evade it, which cannot be permitted.
The court said a social media influencer is expected not to try to play the role of a professional without any backing to substantiate what is being shared by them.
"In the present scenario, even though the defendant is neither a competitor nor a qualified Doctor/ Nutritionist/ Dietician, however, he has openly named, identified and criticised the plaintiff's product 'COMPLAN' by starting the impugned video on a purely negative note by making unsubstantive and false statements therein.
"The contents/ statements therein are not backed by any substantive basis, even when they were uploaded and even as on date, therefore, the said contents/ statements made by the defendant therein are nothing short of being false, which is writ large," said the court on September 26 in the judgment passed on Zydus' plea seeking an interim relief.
"Merely being a 'social media influencer', the defendant is not bestowed with the independence to speak and/ or comment about a subject of which he is not the master. In fact, 'social media influencer' like the defendant is always expected not to cross over and try to play the role of a professional or try to fall in/ step into the shoes of a teacher or any other professional or act like a preacher, more so without any backing to substantiate what is being talked/ shared," the court stated.
Desai said he was a well-established social media influencer who created content relating to health and lifestyle, and maintained that his video reflected the truth. There were no falsities in relation to the product of the plaintiff, he added.
Besides being a qualified chartered accountant and certified management accountant, he has also obtained several certifications from different universities on the subject of nutrition and wellness, the court was told.
The court, in the order, said Zydus was an "age old company" which was selling Complan for a long time after obtaining requisite authorisations in accordance with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and other guidelines. The defendant cannot be permitted to "identify" and unauthorisedly reproduce the plaintiff's product, it added.
"The defendant by uploading the impugned video is questioning all such authorisation(s), permission(s), approval(s), sanction(s) or like obtained by the plaintiff from the Government of India," it stated, while concluding that the video was "indeed damaging" and "malicious" .
"The defendant's unauthorised and dishonest use of the plaintiff's registered mark 'COMPLAN' in the impugned video, is/ are detrimental to, the distinctive reputation/ goodwill/ character of the plaintiff's trademark 'COMPLAN' and 'COMPLAN family marks', amounting to infringement," it stated.
The court further said the defendant ought to have been more careful while uploading the video, especially as he was naming the plaintiff's product.
"A 'Social Media Influencer' like the defendant cannot express and/or advocate his ideas/ opinions freely without any substantive basis and/ or backing and/ or is expected to be sensible, prudent, careful, cautious and pragmatic instead of being unwise and reckless, especially in today's age when media is a powerful tool having an influence over all humanity," the court said.
