Intermediaries, or platforms, cannot be "tacit" onlookers of the information uploaded to their platforms, argued senior advocate Dayan Krishnan at the Delhi High Court today, reported The Hindu. They are required under India's platform regulations to be more proactive instead. Krishnan was appearing for 11-year-old Aaradhya Bachchan in her challenge against misinformation on her health in videos circulating on YouTube. Bachchan is the daughter of Indian actors Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan—the suit was filed through the latter. The videos claimed that Bachchan was "critically ill", while another said she had passed away. The Court observed that morphed photographs were used in the videos too. Krishnan argued that India's platform regulation rules, the IT Rules, 2021, mandate that platforms have to make "reasonable efforts" to prevent users from disseminating certain types of content. For example, misinformation is a content type that platforms are outlawed from hosting under the IT Rules, 2021. The Delhi High Court ordered websites to immediately cease disseminating the contentious videos, with Justice C. Hari Shankar adding that the "dissemination of misleading information regarding the mental and physical health of a child is completely intolerable". The Court directed YouTube-parent Google to immediately deactivate the contented URLs. Google will take immediate action should the Bachchans notify it of any other clips relating to Aaradhya's health, the High Court noted. Google was also ordered to reveal the identities, contact details, emails, and other available information of the websites and YouTube channels disseminating the videos to the Bachchans. Why it…
