In April 2016, two directives issued by two separate state governments in India made social media group administrators (‘administrators’) liable for content circulated by other members of the group. This came in the wake of a series of arrests in India for content posted on WhatsApp. This included arrests of administrators for content posted by other members. In our previous post, we argued that making administrators liable is not legal and severely undermines their right to freedom of speech and expression.

This question surrounding the liability of administrators for content posted by others recently came up before for consideration before High Court of Delhi. In a recent order, the Court recognised the problem of placing this burden on administrators.

In this case, damages for defamation were also sought from the administrator of a Telegram and a Google Group on which the allegedly defamatory statements were published. Recognising the inability of the administrator to influence content on the group, the Court found holding an administrator liable equivalent to holding the ‘manufacturer of the newsprint’ liable for the defamatory statements in the newspaper.

The Court reasoned that at the time of making the group, the administrators could not expect members to make defamatory statements. Further, the Court took into account the fact that the statements posted did not require the administrator’s approval. Consequently, the Court found no reason to hold the administrator responsible.

However, the contention of the petitioner that the administrator has the power to ‘add or remove people from the group/platform as well as to filter’ was not evaluated on merits, as it was not the pleaded case of the petitioner. The courts response to such arguments remains to be seen.

In the midst of increasing restrictions on social media groups and administrators, this order is a welcome step. It is imperative that Governments, law enforcement agencies and courts take note to ensure that freedom of expression of administrators and users of such platforms/groups is not undermined.