would be contrary to free speech standards and may also expose the
platforms to legal proceedings. It is averred that such order would lead to
libel tourism and forum shopping.
42.
It is submitted that active monitoring also cannot be directed. The
injunction ought to be restricted to India, and only to the identified URLs. It
is further stated that the platforms have complied with the order dated 24th
January, 2019. The relevant extract from the written statement reads as
under:
“4.
Without prejudice to the submissions made
herein, it is submitted that the Answering Defendants
have duly complied with the order dated 24.01.2019
passed by this Hon‘ble Court and the Defendant No. 3
has duly disabled the web links/URLs complained of by
the Plaintiffs in the present matter, to the extent that
they pertained to YouTube (hereinafter, ―Impugned
URLs‖), from the country domain.
…
20….It is submitted that the said prayers are untenable
and contrary to settled law for the following reasons:
(i) To the extent the Plaintiffs seek in its prayers a
blanket order to remove ―any other URLs/links
containing the Video or part thereof‖ without
identifying such videos or specifying their location, the
prayer is vague, excessive and incapable of being
complied with;
(ii) To the extent the Plaintiffs seek in its prayers a
blanket direction to block/disable ―any other
URLs/links containing the Video or part thereof‖ that
defame or disparage
the alleged goodwill and
reputation of the Plaintiffs, without there being any
examination and/or adjudication by the Court on
whether each such video is indeed defamatory or
disparaging or not, the prayers are contrary to settled
law and cannot be granted;
CS (OS) 27/2019
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