High Court Advocate Nagurbabu N Fights Against Social Media

In a significant order upholding the privacy and dignity of victims of sexual offences, the Telangana High Court has directed the immediate removal of more than 200 digital publications disclosing the identity of a sexual offence victim and violating her fundamental right to privacy. Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy, while hearing Writ Petition No. 24063 of 2026, issued interim directions to YouTube, Google, Meta (Facebook & Instagram) and X (formerly Twitter) to forthwith remove all identity-revealing, privacy-invasive and defamatory digital content relating to the petitioner.

The writ petition was filed and argued by High Court Advocate Nagurbabu N, who sought urgent judicial intervention against YouTube, Google, Meta and X for their failure to remove objectionable content despite repeated statutory representations. The petition contended that the continued hosting, indexing, recommendation and dissemination of the victim's photographs, videos and other identifying particulars had caused grave prejudice to her privacy, dignity and reputation, in violation of the law protecting victims of sexual offences.
Appearing for the petitioner, High Court Advocate Nagurbabu N submitted that despite representations made to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the Resident Grievance Officers of the respective digital platforms, no effective action had been taken to remove the unlawful content. The petitioner therefore approached the High Court seeking enforcement of her fundamental rights under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India, the Information Technology Act, 2000, the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, and the law laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court prohibiting disclosure of the identity of victims of sexual offences.

After hearing the submissions, the High Court issued notices to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, YouTube, Google, Meta (Facebook & Instagram) and X (formerly Twitter), directing them to file their responses. As an interim measure, the Court ordered the respondent platforms to immediately remove and delete more than 200 YouTube videos, Facebook posts, Instagram posts, X posts and other digital publications identified in Annexure-A to the writ petition. The Court also permitted the petitioner's counsel to serve personal notice on the respondent platforms. The matter has been posted for further hearing on 20 August 2026.
The interim order is being viewed as a significant step towards strengthening the digital privacy rights of victims of sexual offences and reaffirming the legal obligation of online intermediaries to promptly remove identity-disclosing content. Legal experts believe the order reinforces the constitutional guarantee of privacy and dignity while ensuring greater accountability of social media platforms in complying with Indian law and Supreme Court guidelines governing the protection of victims' identities