Aaradhya Bachchan case: Why Aishwarya and Abhishek Bachchan's daughter moved Delhi HC

Aaradhya Bachchan, the daughter of Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, has dragged a Youtube channel to the Delhi High Court for allegedly spreading fake news and misinformation about her health. Aaradhya, 11, has alleged that the Youtube channel has deliberately disseminated fake news regarding her health.

Aaradhya Bachchan-YouTube Case

While hearing the arguments, the Delhi High Court used extremely strong words against YouTube for allowing the dissemination of fake news related to Aaradhya, who is a minor. The petition filed by Aaradhya has argued to ‘delist and deactivate all videos’ that are about her. The said Youtube channels allegedly made comments on Amitabh Bachchan’s granddaughter’s “leg problem” and an 'alleged limb condition'.

The Delhi High Court pulled up YouTube, a Google-owned video platform, for misleading content on its platform. The court has also commented that Youtube is a profit-making platform and should have a social responsibility in what is being posted on their platform.

The court also addressed Aaradhya Bacchchan’s family background and said, “Every child is entitled to respect be it child of a celebrity or commoner.”

Aaradhya Bachchan Delhi High Court hearing

Aaradhya Bachchan moved to Delhi High Court on April 20. The petition filed by her lawyers read, ‘The petition reportedly states, 'The defendants' sole motivation is to unlawfully profit from the reputation of the Bachchan family, irrespective of the damage-causing to the plaintiffs and their family members.' As per reports, the complaint filed on behalf of Aaradhya also mentions  Google LLC and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Grievance Cell) as parties in the case. 

Law firm Anand and Naik is fighting the case on behalf of Aaradhya Bachchan. They argued that Aaradhya is a minor and by spreading such fake news about her, the Youtube channel has violated her rights. They also added that such information tarnishes not just her but the entire Bachchan family. However, no one from the Bachchan family has issued a statement regarding the case yet. 

The Delhi High Court’s razor sharp observations come in the backdrop of the ongoing debate of whether tech giants need to step forth and take responsibility for the content hosted on their platform. YouTube, which at an average hosts an estimated average of 2,500 fresh videos per minute on a daily basis, has been hauled up for what may be seen as an arms length approach vis-a-via the content of the videos themselves.

With the revision of the IT rules and India adopting a strong outlook to ensure responsibility is taken with precision and the policies of big tech platforms are revised in tune with the law of the land, the latest Delhi High Court observations re-iterate the commitment that New India has adopted vis-a-vis cyber security and responsibility.