Delhi HC asks Google to remove YouTube videos on Aaradhya Bachchan’s health

Aaradhya Bachchan

The Delhi High Court on April 20 asked YouTube parent Google to immediately delist and deactivate videos making false claims about the health of Aaradhya Bachchan, the daughter of actor couple Abhishek and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.

Aaradhya, who is also the granddaughter of super-star Amitabh Bachchan, had moved the court, saying some miscreants were circulating videos on YouTube claiming she was critically ill. One of the videos even said she was dead.

“Every child is entitled to be treated with honour and respect, be in celebrity or a commoner. Misleading information on child, especially with respect to her health, is completely intolerable in law,” the court said.

Though it was not the first time that misleading information was being circulated on social media, when targeted at a child, it reflected “morbid perversity” of the person circulating such information, the court said.

It asked the tech giant to share details of the YouTube channels making such videos and also restrained them from “disseminating or further transmitting” clips with false claims about Aaradhya’s health.

The clips also used morphed pictures, she Aaradhya told the court, adding she was a healthy, school-going child.

The videos breached her privacy and were in violation of IT (intermediary guidelines) as amended in 2022. They also violated IP rights, including copyright of her images which vested with the Bacchan family.

Google has also been asked to file details of its policy showing compliance with Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines Digital Media ethics) Rules to bring it in line with the recent changes.

"Google LLC is duty-bound in law to ensure strict compliance with the entire statutory regime relating to intermediaries with which it is governed which includes IT Rules 2021," the court said.

On being informed by her representatives, Google will have to take down any other video clip that talks about Aaradhya’s health.

"The Delhi High Court has recognised that the privacy of young Aaradya Bachchan needs to be protected against those that are spreading false news and are gaining profits from misusing her family name," her lawyer Pravin Anand said.