The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court on Saturday issued a significant order directing social media giants Meta (Facebook/Instagram) and Google (YouTube) to remove allegedly derogatory and defamatory videos targeting renowned Ramkatha narrator and Padma Vibhushan awardee Jagadguru Rambhadracharya.
A division bench of Justice Shekhar B. Saraf and Justice Prashant Kumar passed the directive, giving the platforms 48 hours to comply once the petitioners provide the specific URL links of the objectionable content.
The order was passed while hearing a petition filed by Sharad Chandra Srivastava and others, who are followers of the spiritual leader. The petition alleged that one Shashank Shekhar, who operates multiple channels across YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram, has been posting highly derogatory and defamatory videos against Jagadguru Rambhadracharya. The content was deemed particularly hurtful as it reportedly mocked the spiritual leader’s disability, as he has been visually impaired since childhood.
The petitioners contended that despite their repeated objections, the videos, which tarnish the reputation of Rambhadracharya—who is also the Vice Chancellor of the Jagadguru Swami Ram Bhadracharya Divyang University—have remained online without action from the concerned platforms. The plea also urged the central and state governments to frame and strictly enforce rules to regulate social media platforms and curb the spread of defamatory content.
During the hearing, the state government informed the court that the Office of the State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities has already taken cognizance of the matter and issued a notice to Shekhar, directing him to appear before the commission on October 18.
The court has scheduled the next hearing in the case for November 11.