Delhi HC recommends wikipedia to remove defamatory content on ANI

02 April 2025 01:31 PM IST The Delhi High Court also withheld Wikipedia from further defamatory content on the Wiki page of Ani, the Delhi High Court on Wednesday ordered that the defamatory descriptions of the news agency Ani be removed on the Wikipedia page. The Delhi High Court. (Lying photo) A bench of justice subramonium Prasad also ordered Wikipedia to remove the ‘protection status’ imposed on the Wikipedia page of Ani and to limit the administrators of the platform to publish the defamatory content on ANI’s page. The ‘protection status’ only enables administrators to edit a wiki page. The order comes in a defamation case submitted by Ani, which brought in a greater judicial struggle for the liability and duties of intermediaries- online service providers- when the content placed by their users was caught in a legitimate clutter. In his suit, the news agency demanded that the Wiki page be taken down on ANI and that the defamatory content is further uploaded. The lawyer representing Wikipedia said that his client did not claim that the content was virtually correct and verified, and said that its content was with a disclaimer that the information was based on secondary sources. According to the platform, its contents were added by open, arable cooperation. In November, however, the Supreme Court pulled up the platform for its apparent reluctance to share details of users who made amendments on a page, noting that Wikipedia’s disclaimer that its contents are based on secondary sources could not release the responsibility for what users write on its pages. The disclaimer cannot act as a ‘Kavach of Karna’, Justice Prasad said, referring to the mythical shield in the epic Mahabharata. The judge added that it was “worrying” that the platform introduced itself as an encyclopedia, while claiming that he did not endorse what was written on it. While the news agency, in prayer 2, sought in his plea of ​​alleged defamatory content, in his prayer he asked 3 to set up the protection status on the Wiki page. “Prayer 2 and 3 (granted),” the bank said as he expressed the verdict.