New Delhi: The Central government’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has asked social media platforms operating in India to comply with the Supreme Court order on the identification of the junior Kolkata doctor who was brutally raped and murdered on August 9.
The apex court, in an order on August 20, ordered the removal of name, photographs and video clips depicting the deceased postgraduate trainee doctor — whose body was found in a semi-naked state at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College & Hospital — from all social media platforms.
“This Court is constrained to issue an injunctive order since the social and electronic media have proceeded to publish the identity of the deceased and photographs of the dead body after the recovery of the body. We accordingly direct that all references to the name of the deceased in the above incident, photographs and video clips shall forthwith be removed from all social media platforms and electronic media in compliance with this order,” MeitY highlighted the operative paragraph of the Supreme Court’s order.
MeitY emphasised the importance of adhering to the Supreme Court’s directive to safeguard the privacy and dignity of individuals involved and, therefore, social media platforms are required to take immediate action to ensure compliance with this order.
The Ministry has urged all social media companies to ensure that such sensitive information is not further disseminated. Failure to comply with the Supreme Court’s order may result in legal consequences and further regulatory action.
All social media platforms will also have to inform the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology at cyberlaw-legal@meity.gov.in about the action taken in response to the compliance of Supreme Court order.
