a leader with political standing and maturity, the petitioner is presumed to be aware of the potential impact of his actions, including retweets, on the public perception. When a public figure, particularly one with a political standing, tweets or retweets a defamatory post, the stakes and repercussions escalate given the broader implications on society. The audience, therefore, becomes the citizenry at large, whose opinions and decisions may be influenced by the information they consume, including defamatory statements published on social media. 71. In other words, the argument of mere retweeting without harmful intent has to be weighed against a public figure‟s duty to exercise due diligence and care in disseminating information on social media platforms. 72. Where millions of people follow a particular person such as the petitioner herein on social media platforms such as Twitter (now ‘X’), anything which is posted by the petitioner on his account is for public notice i.e. notice for all the people who care to follow him. VII. WILL EVERY ‘RETWEET’ ATTRACT ACTION UNDER SECTION 499 OF IPC? 73. Let us consider a scenario where an original author „Z‟ posts defamatory content against „Y‟ on his Twitter (now ‘X’) account. The same is retweeted by thousands of users on their profiles. However, interestingly, one such retweet is from a public figure or influencer Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:ZEENAT PRAVEEN Signing Date:05.02.2024 16:25:50 CRL.M.C. 6347/2019 Page 42 of 50