The Delhi High Court on Tuesday laid out directions to tackle the issue of removing offensive content from the internet and preventing errant parties from re-posting and re-directing such content. Observing that "the internet never sleeps; and the internet never forgets," Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani said that despite orders passed by the court, online platforms have not been able to "fully and effectively remove" content. The judgment was passed in response to a petition by a woman who complained that photographs that she posted on her private accounts on Facebook and Instagram were taken without her knowledge and consent and reshared on a pornographic website. While the photographs themselves are not objectionable, they have become offensive by association, thus making the publishing and transmitting of this material an offence under section 67 of the Information Technology Act (IT Act) 2000, the court held. Cannot play a cat-and-mouse game: Delhi HC During the hearings, the petitioner complained that there was "brazen and blatant disregard" to the court order and "the errant respondents and other mischief-makers had re-directed, re-posted and re-published the offending content onto other websites and online platforms, thereby rendering the orders of the court ineffective." The court cannot play "a cat-and-mouse game of errant parties evading court orders by re-posting offending content," Bhambhani noted. If the court is not in a position to pass "effective and implementable" orders, then subsequent judgements on the matter will be "rendered infructuous," he added. What should intermediaries and search engines do? Remove offensive…
