The Madras High Court on Friday (July 11, 2025) directed the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to block all websites that displayed the private images and videos of a woman advocate, recorded by her male partner without her knowledge and circulated widely on the internet and digital platforms.
Justice N. Anand Venkatesh ordered the blocking of the websites in toto after a Central government senior panel counsel reported it would not be possible to take down the objectionable images and videos alone from the websites, as it had been ordered by the court on Wednesday (July 9) on a writ petition filed by the advocate.
The judge also recorded the submission of the senior panel counsel that in so far as intermediaries such as social media platforms were concerned, MeitY had sent communications to their nodal officers, asking them to immediately take down the objectionable images and videos of the writ petitioner.
Though the judge on Tuesday (July 8) adjourned the writ petition for further hearing to July 15, he took up the matter out of turn on Friday, following an urgent mentioning made by the Central government senior panel counsel after informing senior counsel Abudu Kumar Rajaratnam representing the advocate.
The woman had told the court she was in a relationship with a man during her college days. She then had no clue that he would malign her by recording their private moments on his mobile phone and disseminating them through social media. She had said, the images and videos had even reached porn sites.
