Lok Awaz TV Slaps Legal Notice on Facebook to Restore Page or Face Massive Lawsuit

Bathinda: The tussle between the media fraternity and  social media platform Facebook  is going to take temperatures  to the peak.  After the hon’ble Supreme Court ruling on  Monday, regarding  Punjab police’s.  armtwisting  of leading media house Punjab Kesri of Jalandhar, another media channel of  the state has cried foul, and  slapped a notice  on Facebook and  ruling party AAP in Punjab.  Adding fuel to the fire, it is reported that  the management of the Lok Awaz Tv has served Facebook and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) with a legal notice to restore its page within 7 days, failing which a civil suit will be filed seeking a mandatory/permanent injunction against the wrongful closure/removal of the channel’s page that had 9, 37,000 followers.

Calling  the action of Meta Platforms Incorporate   (Facebook),  arbitrary and capricious, violating Article 19(1)(a) of the Indian Constitution and sections 52(1)(a) and 52(1)(q) of the Copyright Act 1957 (India), advocate  Amaninder Singh Sekhon, counsel for Maninderjeet Sidhu, the proprietor of Lok Awaz TV, has shot a notice.

Adv Sekhon said that the strikes/objections of the AAP were based on content emanating from the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, including debates, speeches, and proceedings that were already in the public domain. Besides, the Punjab Vidhan Sabha secretariat itself did not object to the use of its content,  whereas the  political entity,  issued strikes. Hence, there could be no infringement of proprietary rights, as the political party had no legal control/ownership over the content of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha.

Adv Sekhon said that Facebook’s action had caused irreparable harm to his client’s reputation, business, and ability to reach its audience, resulting in significant financial losses, including, but not limited to, the loss of advertising revenue, sponsorships, and goodwill associated with the page.

The counsel said that sections 79 and 81 of the Information Technology Act 2000 (as amended) provide safe-harbour protections to intermediaries like Facebook but do not absolve them of liability for arbitrary actions that suppress legitimate content. The principle of natural justice was also infringed as no adequate opportunity was provided to his client to respond to the “strikes” or appeal effectively before the permanent removal/deletion of the page.

Furthermore, the International Standards on freedom of speech and expression, as enshrined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which India is a signatory, had been violated, the notice said.

Lastly, the notice made it clear to Meta Platforms Inc. that the civil suit would result in substantial compensation, as well as punitive and exemplary damages for loss of business, reputation, and mental anguish.   ( with  inputs from Maninderjeet Sidhu, Lok Awaz Tv, Jaitu – Distt. Faridkot)