In a significant turn of events, Delhi High Court Judge Navin Chawla recused himself from hearing Wikipedia’s appeal against a single-judge directive, which ordered the online encyclopedia to remove allegedly defamatory content about news agency ANI. The matter is now set to be heard by a different bench, as per the directions of the Chief Justice.
The controversy began last year when Justice Chawla issued a summons to Wikipedia following ANI’s defamation suit. The suit claims Wikipedia described the news agency inaccurately as a government propaganda tool. Justice Chawla later expressed dissatisfaction with Wikipedia’s compliance regarding his order, which demanded the platform disclose details about the users who edited the ANI page.
The escalation continued when Justice Chawla threatened to order the cessation of Wikipedia’s business transactions in India if non-compliance persisted, citing the platform’s foreign base as no excuse for delays in court proceedings.
Upon a recent roster change, the case was reassigned to Justice Subramonium Prasad, who, on April 2, instructed Wikipedia to lift the protection status of the ANI page, allowing modifications by general users and not just administrators. Additionally, the court issued a restraint on posting defamatory content against ANI, disposing of the news agency’s application.
Wikipedia then appealed against Justice Prasad’s decision, challenging the view that it, as an intermediary under the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000, has fiduciary responsibilities to prevent defamation on its platform. Justice Prasad refuted Wikipedia’s argument of being a mere host for third-party content, stating, “Wikipedia cannot completely wash its hands of the contents of the ANI article on the grounds that it is only an intermediary and cannot be held responsible for the statement that is published on its platform.”
The court emphasized that as Wikipedia presents itself as an encyclopedia, the public is likely to regard the information it hosts as factual and reliable, hence attributing a higher level of responsibility to the platform.
