by However, stand-up comic Kunal Kamra only agreed to take down one of his multiple posts on X about ANI.
YouTuber Mohak Mangal on Thursday told the Delhi High Court that he will edit the video uploaded by him about news wire Asian News International (ANI) and remove objectionable references to agency in the video.
This was after ANI sued him in Delhi High Court over his remarks that news agency’s copyright strikes on YouTube and demands for licensing fees to use their videos, amounts to extortion.
Alt-news co-founder Mohammed Zubair also agreed to take down one of his X posts on the issue. Zubair too was sued by ANI for amplifying the views of Mangal.
Zubair’s counsel Soutik Banerjee said he had made a civilized comment on the larger issue but was willing to delete it.
However, stand-up comic Kunal Kamra only agreed to take down one of his multiple posts on X.
Advocate Arun Sri Kumar, representing Kamra, said other tweets by Kamra were covered under the right to free speech and that he was commenting on a matter of larger public interest.
“There is a larger public interest in understanding how YouTube’s policies can be weaponized against content creators. The language may not be palatable to them but is protected by free speech.”
However, the Court said such language was not palatable to the Court.
“This kind of language… I am all for free speech [but] calling someone ‘thugs’ and all, this is not okay. I went to the extent of condoning the use of word ‘gatiya’ but ‘thugs’ and ‘mafia’ is serious,” Justice Amit Bansal remarked.
The counsel said the medium where it is posted must be considered. However, the Court was not convinced.
“How does it matter. It is publicly accessible. You have huge following,” it said, while asking Kamra to take down the tweet.
Ultimately, Kamra agreed to delete the tweet.
On Mangal’s video, the Court had earlier in the day observed that he could have posted his video in a civilized manner and had asked his counsel to take instructions on taking it down.
Senior Advocate Chander Lall and Advocate Nakul Gandhi for Mangal later submitted that he would edit the video to remove the objected portions and republish it on public forum. The Court then went through the suggestions made by Mangal’s counsel.
Senior Advocate Amit Sibal, who represented ANI, also went through the suggestions and asked for removal for more portions. Ultimately, the parties reached an agreement on removal of certain portions.
Meanwhile, the Court also ordered removal of various related posts on X.
Senior Advocate Chander Lall along with advocates Nakul Gandhi, Mujeeb and Tanish Gupta appeared for Mangal.
Senior Advocate Amit Sibal with advocate Sidhant Kumar represented ANI.
Advocate Soutik Banerjee represented Zubair. Advocate Arun Sri Kumar represented Kamra.
