Delhi High Court seeks response from Central govt, Facebook, Instagram on plea against objectionable Instagram posts on Hindu gods, goddesses

The Delhi High Court has issued notice on a petition concerning publication of "highly obnoxious and objectionable posts" on Hindu gods on Instagram (Aditya Singh Deshwal v. Union of India)..A Bench of Justice Rekha Palli sought responses from the Central government, Instagram, and its owner Facebook in the petition preferred by Advocate Aditya Singh Deshwal..As per the petitioner, the uploaded content not only had abusive language with respect to Hindu gods and goddesses. but also showed vulgar representations of them in the form of cartoons and graphics..Before the Court, Instagram submitted that the content in question had already been removed from its platform. .The petitioner, however, submitted that the issue of compliance with the new Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021 by Instagram was yet to be examined. He thus prayed for a direction to Instagram to ensure the implementation of the Rules in its true letter and spirit.A direction was also sought to Instagram to preserve all the details associated with such objectionable accounts and place them before the Court for further action..While Instagram stated that it has appointed a Grievance Officer in terms of the Rules and the same person was also the Grievance Officer for Facebook, the petitioner asserted that one person cannot act as Grievance Officer for two Significant Social Media Intermediaries having followers of more than 50 lakh..The matter will be heard next on August 16. .Senior Advocate G Tushar Rao and Advocate Ayush Saxena appeared for the petitioner. .Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma and Standing counsel Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar and Advocate S Bushra Kazim appeared for the Centre. .Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi and a team of Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas lawyers led by Partners Tejas Karia, Ajit Warrier, Pavit Singh Katoch and Gauhar Mirza appeared for Instagram and Facebook. .[Read Order]