Google, Meta tell Delhi High Court: We cannot proactively monitor Kejriwal court clip videos

Google and Meta have informed the Delhi High Court that they cannot proactively monitor and remove unauthorised clips of court proceedings related to a recusal plea filed by former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The tech giants submitted their affidavits in response to a petition by lawyer Vaibhav Singh, who sought action against the unauthorised recording and sharing of a hearing before Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma in the liquor policy case.

The petition also sought contempt action against AAP leaders, including Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, and Sanjay Singh, for allegedly uploading and sharing clips of the proceedings in violation of High Court rules. On Monday, a bench of Justice V Kameswar Rao and Justice Manmeet P.S. Arora deferred the hearing to August 27, noting that the respondents had not yet been served.

In its affidavit, Meta stated that it is “impracticable (if not impossible) for Meta to locate or identify the Contested Content allegedly posted on the Facebook Service or Instagram Service without URLs.” The company highlighted that billions of pieces of content are posted daily on its platforms. Meta said it would take action on specific URLs identified by the petitioner or directed by the court, but argued that the broader relief sought—requiring Meta to “proactively identify and prevent the dissemination of any future content that may allegedly violate the VC Rules”—exceeds its obligations under the IT Rules. “Compelling an intermediary to undertake such an exercise would require it to independently adjudicate the lawfulness of content and effectively become a 'super censor',” Meta's affidavit said.

Google, which owns YouTube, echoed similar concerns. It stated that “YouTube is a dynamic platform where millions of videos are uploaded every hour throughout the world” and that it is “impossible for the Answering Respondent (Google) to proactively monitor the videos uploaded on the YouTube platform and have any specific knowledge of the contents of each such video.” Google added that as an intermediary, it cannot be expected to act as an arbiter of third-party claims or actively monitor content.

On April 23, the court had noted that unauthorised recording and publishing of court hearings is prohibited under High Court rules and sought the platforms' stand on removing such clips. The petition alleges that AAP leaders and others, including Congress leader Digvijay Singh, intentionally recorded and circulated videos of Kejriwal's appearance before Justice Sharma on April 13 with the intent to malign the court's image.