Merely Using Words 'Bully' Or 'Unprofessional' On Social Media Not Defamation: Delhi Court

A Delhi Court has recently observed that mere use of words “bully” or “unprofessional” on social media do not amount to defamation and do not even have the tendency of being defamatory. “The Court cannot knock down reasonable expressions of criticism on social media under the garb of law of defamation,” District Judge Arvind Bansal of Tiz Hazari Courts observed. The judge made the observations while disissing a civil defamation suit filed by entrepreneur Vidur Kanodia against social media professional Lakshita Jain. Jain had uploaded Instagram stories describing Kanodia as a “bully” and “unprofessional”. The District Judge observed that Kanodia failed to make out a prima facie case satisfying the essential ingredients of civil defamation and that the posts, when read in context, constituted expressions arising out of a commercial dispute rather than actionable defamation.Kanodia, claiming to be a restaurateur associated with multiple food ventures, alleged that Jain—who ran a social media agency—was engaged to promote his restaurant through content creators. A dispute arose regarding alleged non-payment of “milestone payments,” following which Jain had posted Instagram stories accusing Kanodia of refusing payment and exploiting small businesses.Aggrieved, Kanodia sought damages of Rs. 50 lakh and injunctions directing removal of the posts and restraining further uploading of allegedly defamatory content.Rejecting the suit, the Court said that Kanodia failed to disclose as to how Jain approached him and what terms and conditions were agreed upon between them for promotion of the restaurant. The plaintiff has not clarified as to what was the agreed 'milestone payment' between him and the defendant, it said. Further, the judge observed that the screenshots of the chat between the parties portrayed a version contrary to the one placed before the Court by Kanodia. The Court said that the context in which the term 'bully' was referred to in the plaint, and the one in which the said term was used in the story was “contrastingly different.”“In the opinion of the Court, in the world of social media, where the plaintiff and his restaurant exposed itself to paid promotion, it should also keep itself open to negative opinions and expressions,” the Court said. The District Judge said that Kanodia failed to place on record even a single message shared by any of his friends or family members with him pursuant to their reading of the alleged stories posted by Jain. It was also observed that Kanodia did not disclose the nature of loss suffered by him in the business of his restaurant on account of the alleged defamatory stories. “In the opinion of this Court, mere use of words bully and/or unprofessional is neither derogatory nor defamatory nor has the tendency of being defamatory, when read as a whole in the context of the nature of transaction between the parties and the chats which followed the said transaction. Admitting a claim of the nature raised by plaintiff would open floodgates for unscrupulous litigants to initiate litigation for every comment or post not liked by them or the ones derogatory merely in their subjective understanding of the things,” the Court said.It added that the Court is duty bound to strike a balance between the right to freedom of speech and expression guaranteed under the Indian Constitution and the right of an individual to safeguard their reputation. Click here to read order

Merely Using Words 'Bully' Or 'Unprofessional' On Social Media Not Defamation: Delhi Court

Nupur Thapliyal

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