The Delhi High Court on September 25 directed Twitter to take down a series of tweets published by a former employee of the India Today Group, for prima facie defaming the company and its consulting editor Rajdeep Sardesai. “Since social media platforms are accessed by a large number of persons of various ages, it is expected of users to display sobriety and common courtesies to those towards whom the comments are directed,” a Bench of Justice Rajiv Shakdher held. LiveLaw first reported the ruling. Aside from accusing the company of bribery, in one of his tweets, Thiyya called Sardesai a “dalla [pimp]”, and asked about the amount of “money [that] changed hands for the Rhea [Chakraborty] interview”. The court also directed Twitter to furnish the basic subscriber information of Thiyya to the India Today Group, and also prohibited him from uploading derogatory or defamatory content about the company or its employees until further orders. The matter has now been listed for hearing on November 19. However, the tweets that are to be taken down were still visible on Twitter from India at the time of publication. India Today’s parent company Living Media Group was represented by Hrishikesh Barua and Twitter was represented by advocate A Karthik. The tweets in question, and how Delhi HC and the India Today Group responded to them On August 28, Thiyya, who had joined India Today as assistant copy editor in August 1999, and resigned in April 2001, posted a Twitter thread alleging that Living Media…
