UKHRUL: The Manipur High Court on January 24 directed the central authorities to ensure the immediate removal of a viral video purportedly showing the killing of a Meitei man by armed miscreants, observing that its continued circulation could pose a serious threat to public order.
The direction was issued by a single bench of Justice Aribam Guneshwar Sharma while hearing a writ petition filed by the Manipur government through the Commissioner (Home), represented by the Advocate General.
During the hearing, the Advocate General informed the court that the video depicts the killing of Mayanglambam Rishikant Singh, a resident of Kakching belonging to the Meitei community, and that it had gone viral across multiple social media platforms. It was submitted that further circulation of the footage could aggravate tensions and disrupt communal harmony.
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The State sought directions for the immediate blocking of the content and urged the court to issue orders to the Union of India, the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, the Department of Telecommunications, and social media intermediaries including Meta, Google, YouTube and WhatsApp.
Counsel assisting the Deputy Solicitor General of India informed the court that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology had already issued a blocking order on January 22 under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, based on inputs from the Ministry of Home Affairs. The court noted that the identified URLs were hosting videos with the potential to disturb public order.
Observing that the immediate relief sought by the State had been addressed, the High Court permitted service of notices on the remaining respondents, including through electronic means, and directed the Union government and concerned ministries to place updated information on record regarding compliance with the blocking order. The matter has been listed for further hearing on February 18.