SC Criticizes Delhi HC Order Asking Wikipedia to Remove Content

The Supreme Court of India has agreed to hear Wikipedia’s challenge against an order of the Delhi High Court compelling it to take down a webpage chronicling an ongoing lawsuit between the online encyclopedia and Asian News International (ANI), an Indian news agency. “We are concerned with the legality and validity of the directions issued by the High Court in paragraph 5 of the impugned order,” said the apex court.

The Delhi High Court had ordered Wikipedia to take down the page in October 2024 over sections containing comments critical of the court’s decisions. The page referred to a previous order from the court asking the foundation to release the identities of the editors, alongside comments from Nishant Shah, a professor of Global Media at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and MediaNama founder-editor Nikhil Pahwa, who termed it “censorship and a threat to the flow of information.” According to the court, such a comment amounted to “interference in court proceedings.”

The Supreme Court criticized the act of taking down content due to critical commentary on the court. “To tell somebody to remove something because there’s some criticism of what the court has done, that may not be correct,” said Justice Oka.

Threat To Press Freedom:

The judges also highlighted that the case had implications for press freedom. “That’s the irony of the situation. Kindly introspect… You are a media house. You want a gag order against the media?” asked Justice Bhuyan to ANI’s lawyer.

“Today it is his turn, tomorrow it may be your turn,” warned Justice Oka.

Background:

ANI had filed a defamation lawsuit against Wikipedia in July last year, arguing that the latter’s entry on the news agency contained defamatory statements. The news agency specifically took umbrage at a section stating that it had received criticism for misinformation and “propaganda.” This section, in turn, was sourced from articles in The Ken and The Caravan.

ANI also argued that since Wikipedia exercised control over editorial rights, it was not eligible for safe harbor protection in India.

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The court had initially asked Wikipedia to reveal the identities of the individuals who had contributed to the page. The encyclopedia challenged that order and was eventually able to sign a consent order with ANI, where it served a notice to the contributors itself while keeping their identities confidential.

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