New Delhi: Counsel representing BJP Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha on Wednesday welcomed the Delhi High Court’s order directing the removal of five prima facie defamatory online posts, saying the decision reinforces that freedom of speech cannot be used to run “paid orchestrated campaigns” of defamation and character assassination.
Earlier in the day, the Delhi High Court ordered the removal of five prima facie defamatory online posts against Chadha while refusing to grant any blanket interim direction for the removal of all the content flagged by him or wider protection of his personality and publicity rights.
In a statement issued after the decision, advocates Satatya Anand and Nikhil Aradhe, who appeared on Chadha’s behalf, said: “The order passed today by the Hon’ble Single Judge of the Delhi High Court is a welcome step as it directed takedown of defamatory content against Mr Chadha, thereby protecting individuals from organised defamatory content on social media.”
“It reinforces the fact that freedom of speech cannot be used to run paid orchestrated campaigns of defamation and character assassination,” they added.
According to Chadha’s counsel, it was brought to the notice of the Delhi High Court during the proceedings that a coordinated and allegedly paid social media campaign was being run through multiple professional agencies to damage the public image and reputation of the Rajya Sabha MP.
“The material placed before the Court demonstrated that defamatory posts, by several social media accounts and influencers publishing paid content, engaged by Influencer Marketing Agencies, were disseminated across numerous social media handles within minutes, reflecting a concerted and organised effort to amplify false narratives and cause irreparable reputational harm,” the statement said.
Describing the order as significant, Chadha’s lawyers said it marked “an important step towards ensuring quick action against organised online defamation and protecting the dignity of public discourse”.
Earlier on Wednesday, a single-judge Bench of Justice Subramonium Prasad held that, prima facie, the dispute did not involve any violation of personality rights, and ordered the takedown of five online posts after finding them to be prima facie defamatory. “There is no personality right involved. However, I have ordered a takedown of only five documents. Rest is not defamatory prima facie,” Justice Prasad observed.
Chadha had approached the Delhi High Court seeking protection of his personality and publicity rights against the alleged unauthorised use and misuse of his name, image, likeness and identity across online and digital platforms, including through AI-generated, deepfake and morphed content portraying that he had “sold himself for money” after switching from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
During the hearing, the Delhi High Court observed that, prima facie, the content flagged by Chadha appeared to be criticism of a political decision rather than a case involving personality rights, while remarking that the distinction between criticism and defamation was “quite thin”.
(IANS)
