New Delhi, 25 September (H.S.):

The Delhi High Court has directed Meta to remove within 24 hours objectionable content posted on social media against a woman, including an image in which her photograph was morphed with that of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A bench headed by Justice Girish Kathpalia also issued notice on a petition filed by the woman, who alleged that Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) leaders Saurav Das, Abhijit Dipke, Ashutosh Ranka and Ratna Singh were involved in circulating the content.

During the hearing, the High Court observed that the matter concerned not only an individual woman but also involved the image of the Prime Minister of the country. The court said that appropriate action should certainly be taken and added that it would ensure that the Delhi Police handled the matter with due sensitivity.

The petitioner’s counsel, Umesh Sharma, told the court that the woman’s photograph had been morphed and circulated on social media through the internet during a CJP protest. He alleged that the Delhi Police had taken no action beyond registering an FIR.

The petition stated that the CJP leaders had allegedly created and uploaded an objectionable image of the woman using artificial intelligence. According to the petition, no permission had been sought from the petitioner before the image was created or uploaded.

The petitioner also approached the Delhi Police Cyber Cell with a complaint, but alleged that the Cyber Cell had failed even to get the image removed. The petition contended that the circulation of the image amounted to a violation of the petitioner’s dignity and privacy.

The court has sought a status report from the Delhi Police within one week. The matter will next be heard on October 14.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar