Bombay High Court Orders Removal of ‘Vile’, ‘Obscene’ E20 Posts Targeting Nitin Gadkari
The Bombay High Court directed platforms to remove allegedly defamatory and AI-generated posts targeting Nitin Gadkari over E20 petrol, while questioning the lack of an effective takedown mechanism.
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday ordered the immediate removal of abusive, vile, obscene and AI-generated posts targeting Union Minister Nitin Gadkari in connection with the controversy over E20 ethanol-blended petrol.
A bench of Justice Arif Doctor directed that the content identified by Gadkari in his civil suit be taken down after observing that it was prima facie defamatory.
“These posts, on the face of it, are abusive, vile and obscene,” the court said.
The court also questioned Meta, X Corp and Google LLC about the absence of a mechanism for removing plainly abusive content without requiring the affected person to approach a court.
Observing that such material should not remain online, the court noted that it could be accessed by anyone, including younger users. It said online platforms should act voluntarily against content of this nature.
The court further directed that similar content identified by the minister in the future should also be removed. It said platforms need an effective process for dealing with such complaints before judicial intervention becomes necessary.
Suit concerns alleged deepfakes and E20 claims
Gadkari, the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, filed the civil suit against Meta Platforms, X Corp, Google LLC and unidentified online creators over allegedly defamatory AI-generated deepfake videos and posts linked to the government’s E20 policy.
He sought the immediate takedown of videos and posts that, according to his suit, falsely claimed that he and members of his family stood to gain financially from the policy.
The minister has also sought ₹11 crore in damages, alleging that the disputed material caused irreparable harm to his reputation and personality rights.
In the plea, Gadkari said the ethanol-blending programme is administered by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and not by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
The suit states that the legal action is intended to hold major social-media intermediaries accountable for hosting allegedly fabricated and derogatory content, rather than to prevent fair criticism or ordinary public discussion of government policy.
The court asked the respondents to file affidavits in reply and posted the matter for further hearing after four weeks.