Google to Delhi HC: Monitoring Unauthorised Court Videos Before Upload Is Impossible
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New Delhi, July06 : As courts increasingly confront the challenges posed by digital platforms, Google has argued before the Delhi High Court that expecting YouTube to proactively identify and block unauthorised recordings of court proceedings is an impossible task. The technology company maintained that such a direction would be legally untenable and technically unworkable for online intermediaries.
In its affidavit before the Court, Google said that directing social media platforms to prevent the recurrence and re-upload of unauthorised recordings of court proceedings is legally untenable and impossible to implement.
Google stated that the recordings are made outside YouTube and that it cannot determine whether a video contains court proceedings, whether it was recorded with permission, or whether it violates the law, particularly as rules governing court recordings differ across jurisdictions in India.
"In such circumstances, it is not possible for the answering respondent [Google] to proactively monitor its platform and "prevent the recurrence of such unauthorised recordings and their subsequent dissemination", as is prayed for," Google's affidavit stated.
It added that it is well settled in law that Google is required to remove videos only after receiving actual knowledge of unlawful content or a valid legal direction, and cannot be expected to proactively monitor or screen every upload."specifically identified by their URLs, once the specific videos have been adjudicated to be violative of the applicable law" by a court.
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"Further, apart from the specifically identified videos on YouTube, the Answering Respondent [Google] cannot sift through the millions of videos on its platform and/ or monitor its platform to determine if there are other videos which pertain to unauthorised recordings of court proceedings and are in violation of applicable law," the tech giant said.
Google further submitted that Indian law does not require intermediaries to actively monitor user-uploaded content or act as arbiters in disputes relating to third-party content.
The affidavit was filed in response to a petition by advocate Vaibhav Singh, who sought action against persons responsible for uploading videos of Arvind Kejriwal addressing the court of Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma in person during proceedings relating to his plea seeking the judge's recusal in the excise policy case.
Following the hearing, several videos of the court proceedings circulated widely on social media. Singh also sought directions requiring social media platforms to prevent the upload and re-upload of unauthorised recordings of court proceedings.