Google Challenges Rs. 2 Crore Claim Over YouTube Account Termination in Court

Last Updated on July 28, 2024 by News Desk

Google Inc. opposed a petition filed by M/S String Art Private Limited, seeking damages worth Rs. 2 crore for the termination of its YouTube accounts, allegedly after a video against Microsoft CEO Bill Gates was posted on its channel. String Art claims to operate as an Indian journalism agency and argues that the deletion of all its accounts on YouTube was arbitrary and against YouTube guidelines as well as the IT Act, 2000 and the IT Rules, 2021.

The court brought to the notice that an appeal/complaint was filed with the Complaints Redressal Cell and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, but due to lack of fruitful result, the petitioner was compelled to approach the court.

Google LLC, the owner of the platform, filed a countersuit on March 15th, challenging the admissibility of the complaint. It argued that a petition under Article 226 is not admissible against a private company and that the petitioner is bound by the jurisdiction as terms and conditions established by a user at the time of registration.

Google claimed that it was merely an “intermediary” and was protected from liability under Section 79 of the Information Technology Act, but Rule 2(1)(v) of the IT Rules, 2021 requires “significant social media intermediaries” to exercise additional due diligence.

The court pointed out that YouTube was one of the first Social Media Service Mediators (SSMIs) to report its compliance with the IT Rules.

Google also stated that YouTube had followed the procedure set out in Article 4(8) of the Rules for the termination of the account and provided a method of appeal against the decision. The dispute was purely contractual and could not be resolved without a fact-finding exercise, which would not be possible under written jurisdiction.