Imphal, January 24: The High Court of Manipur has directed central authorities to submit updated information on the progress made in the takedown of a viral video showing the killing of a man by armed miscreants in Churachandpur district, citing serious concerns over public order.
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Hearing a writ petition filed by the State of Manipur through the Commissioner (Home), a single bench of Justice A Guneshwar Sharma noted that the Advocate General informed the court about the circulation of a disturbing video on social media platforms, which was likely to incite unrest and disturb public tranquillity.
According to submissions before the court, the video surfaced late on January 21 and purportedly shows Mayanglambam Rishikanta Singh, a resident of Kakching Khunou, being shot dead by suspected Kuki militants in Churachandpur district despite pleading for his life. The clip was allegedly circulated with the message, “No Peace, No Popular Government.”
In its order dated January 22, the court recorded submissions seeking directions to online platforms, including Meta Platforms Inc, YouTube’s grievance officer, Google LLC, Google India Digital Services Pvt Ltd, and WhatsApp Inc, to ensure the immediate removal of the viral video from their platforms.
The court was informed by counsel assisting the Deputy Solicitor General of India that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) had already issued an order on January 22 directing the takedown of the video under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, read with the Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking Access to Information by Public) Rules, 2009.
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The bench further directed the respondents, including the Secretary, Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications, and the Director General (Cyber Laws and e-Security), MeitY, Government of India, to submit an updated status report on the implementation of the takedown order.
The matter has been listed for further hearing on February 18, by which date the court has sought comprehensive details on steps taken to ensure the complete removal of the viral clip across all digital platforms.
