The Supreme Court of India has taken a firm stance on the regulation of user-generated content on social media platforms, addressing critical issues that emerged from the controversial India's Got Talent case involving prominent YouTubers Ranveer Allahbadia and Samay Raina.
Court Questions Content Creator Responsibility
During Thursday's hearing, the bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant emphasized the urgent need for accountability in social media content. Justice Joymalya Bagchi, who was also part of the bench, raised pointed questions about content creators' responsibility when their material is perceived as anti-national.
"Where the content is perceived as anti-national. Will the content creator take responsibility for that?" Justice Bagchi questioned, highlighting the court's concerns about viral content that spreads rapidly before authorities can respond effectively.
Regulatory Gaps and Timely Action
The court expressed significant concern about the speed at which problematic content spreads across digital platforms. Justice Bagchi noted the fundamental challenge facing regulatory authorities: "The difficulty we are facing is the response time. Once the scurrilous material is uploaded, by the time the authorities react, it has gone viral to millions of viewers."
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, argued that the case involved not just obscenity but also perversion, indicating a serious gap in the current framework regulating user-generated content. "Freedom of speech is a precious right, but it cannot extend to perversity," Mehta stated during the proceedings.
Proposed Solutions and Government Deadline
The Supreme Court has given the government a strict four-week deadline to propose comprehensive regulations for handling user-generated content on social media platforms. The bench questioned why such cases continue to emerge if monitoring systems are already in place.
Justice Bagchi suggested implementing warning systems for potentially shocking content, noting that "There should be a warning for someone who may be shocked by such content. Not just above 18... To say that it has content not suitable for general consumption."
The court proposed establishing an autonomous regulatory body comprising experts from various fields, including judiciary and media representatives. "Let something come up on a pilot basis, and if it clogs free speech and expression, it can be looked at then. We need to build a responsible society, and once that happens, most of the problems will be solved," the court observed.
Background of the India's Got Talent Case
The current proceedings follow earlier Supreme Court action against comedian Samay Raina and four other content creators—Vipul Goyal, Balraj Paramjeet Singh Ghai, Nishant Jagdish Tanwar, and Sonali Thakkar—for allegedly making insensitive remarks about people with disabilities.
In May, the bench had summoned the comedians to appear before the court or face coercive action after a plea alleged they ridiculed persons suffering from Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) and other disabilities on their show.
The court subsequently directed Raina and the other comedians to issue unconditional apologies on their YouTube channels and other platforms. In October, Samay Raina publicly apologized for the pain caused by insensitive remarks made during his YouTube show 'India's Got Latent'.
During the recent hearing, Advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing a disabled professor seeking to join the proceedings, cautioned that arbitrarily branding content as anti-national could cause more harm than good. However, Justice Bagchi countered this argument by asking "Forget shreds of anti-national, supposing there is a video which shows that this part is not part of India, what do you do about that?"
The Supreme Court's intervention marks a significant moment in India's ongoing debate about balancing freedom of expression with social responsibility in the digital age, particularly as user-generated content continues to reach massive audiences with unprecedented speed.
