The Delhi High Court on Tuesday told Meta, the parent company of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, to “put its house in order” after media group TV Today Network complained that the tech giant filed to properly reply to its plea against the blocking of its Instagram page Harper’s Bazaar India.
A Bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet P.S. Arora cautioned Meta that if the complaint of the media house is not decided, the court will make prima facie observation that the social media platform was taking TV Today’s counsel in circles.
“You are far worse than a government department. Please be careful. You have to be alive to the situation. Your system is not working,” the court said. It told Meta to “put its house in order” or else the court might pass an order castigating it.
The court was hearing a plea by TV Today Network Pvt Ltd against the blocking of its Instagram page on a third party’s complaint.
The counsel for the media house submitted that they have written to Meta about their grievance and also contacted the grievance redressal officer but the only response they got was that they have not written to the correct channel. He showed the email to the court.
The Meta’s counsel submitted that the Instagram page was blocked following three copyright complaints and the email shown by the media group was not a decision to reject the complaint but an automatic reply.
During the hearing, the court asked the media house’s counsel to fill the requisite form in the presence of Meta’s counsel and come back. The counsel returned after a while and said that the complaint has been rejected again.
The court then told Meta’s counsel, “You cannot be stubborn with us. Follow what we are saying. You’re not able to understand what we are saying…We have been more than liberal with you. We have given you enough time to set your house in order…You may be having billions of users but your house is not in order.”
The court asked the counsel to ensure the complaint of the media house is entertained and decided appropriately and listed the matter for further hearing on Wednesday while asking Meta’s counsel to come with a better response.
