Digital media ethics code

Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora: The Delhi High Court on Friday asked social media intermediaries to treat a suit filed by former Indian cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar seeking protection of his personality and publicity rights as a formal complaint, and to decide on it within a week under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.

A single-judge Bench of Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora passed the direction after Gavaskar approached the Delhi High Court alleging misuse of his name, photographs and likeness across social media and e-commerce platforms.

Following the submission of a list of infringing content by Gavaskar’s counsel, Justice Arora reiterated her recent position that individuals seeking urgent takedown of objectionable online content must first avail the mechanism provided under the 2021 IT Rules before seeking judicial intervention.