The Supreme Court on Tuesday flagged the “vacuum” in law when it comes to sharing of content on platforms such as YouTube and said “all kinds of things were going on”.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh referred to a case of YouTubers where the Centre was also a party.
“All kinds of things are going on. These YouTubers and their shows… something has to be done about them and we will do it. We are not going to leave it like this. We have issued a notice (in Ranveer Allahbadia matter)…We would like to do something. We may not overlook the importance and sensitivity of the issue,” Justice Surya Kant said.
The court in the meantime sought the assistance of attorney general R Venkataramani and solicitor general Tushar Mehta on the issue asking them to appear on the next hearing.
“We would like to do something. If the Government of India will willingly do it, we will be very happy. Otherwise, we are not going to leave this vacuum,” the bench told additional solicitor general Aishwarya Bhati, who was appearing in a separate case.
According to Justice Surya Kant, there appeared a vacuum in the regulations and the way it was being misused by the “so-called” YouTube channels was a matter of concern.
The bench earlier in the day granted protection from arrest to podcaster Ranveer Allahbadia in the FIRs lodged against him over his comments during a YouTube show.
Several FIRs were filed against Allahbadia, popularly known as BeerBiceps, for his comment on parents and sex on comedian Samay Raina’s YouTube show “India’s Got Latent”.
The bench rapped Allahbadia for “unacceptable comments” on the show and said, “There is something dirty in his mind which has been vomited on the YouTube show.”
It added, “The words you have chosen, the parents will feel ashamed, daughters and sisters will feel ashamed, your younger brother will feel ashamed, the entire society will feel ashamed.” (PTI)
