Madras HC asks youtuber to pay Rs 50 lakh for trolling; Warns social media users targeting transgenders
Madras High Court has warned YouTubers and social media writers who target and troll transgender individuals. The court has ordered YouTuber Joe Micheal Praveen to pay Rs 50 lakh as compensation to transgender-celebrity Apsara Reddy, who is the spokesperson of Tamil Nadu's main opposition party, the AIADMK, a TOI report stated.
Google, on the other hand, has been exempted from a similar penalty as it removed the defamatory and scandalous content uploaded by Joe Micheal Praveen after being flagged.
Additionally, Apsara Reddy did not press charges against Google.
In his order on January 4, Justice N Sathish Kumar cautioned Google, stating, «It is high time for the second defendant (Google LLC) to probe and bring an end to allowing malicious content, at least in the future.»
Apsara Reddy had approached the court seeking Rs 1.25 crore in damages from Joe Micheal Praveen for publishing at least 10 defamatory YouTube videos, which tarnished her reputation. She claimed that these libelous and slanderous videos had caused her immense damage and hardships.
Apsara Reddy also requested the court to direct Google to remove the 10 videos published by Joe Micheal Praveen.
Joe Micheal Praveen did not appear in court despite receiving notice, leading the court to pass an ex parte order instructing him to pay Rs 50 lakh as compensation to Apsara Reddy.
Apsara Reddy stated that Joe Micheal Praveen had targeted her after she refused to do a joint video or program with him while she was an editor at Provogue magazine. She claimed that he became angry and started defaming her through gossip and circulating false information about her social activities.
Justice Sathish Kumar, agreeing with the arguments presented by senior counsel V
