Takedown Order for ‘The Paradise’ Defamation
In a pre-release relief, court orders takedown of targeted defamatory links, but protects genuine reviews!
A Bengaluru civil court has granted an ex-parte ad-interim injunction protecting actor Nani’s upcoming film The Paradise from a coordinated online defamation campaign.
Passed on September 19 by the Additional City Civil and Sessions Judge, the order directs social media platforms and online entities to remove specific URLs hosting targeted derogatory content.
The film’s production house, Sri Lakshmi Venkateshwara Cinemas LLP, approached the court after noticing a wave of “systematically coordinated”, false and malicious posts following the trailer launch on August 6. The makers argued that the campaign was designed to damage the film’s reputation and harm its commercial prospects ahead of release.
Recognising the urgency and potential for irreversible economic injury, the court dispensed with prior notice to the defendants to prevent them from altering or multiplying the offending links. The judge ruled that the identified content crossed the line from fair criticism into commercial defamation.
The injunction is strictly confined to the specific URLs collated by the producers. The court clarified that the order does not restrict bona fide public reviews, genuine critique or fair criticism once the film is released.
Highlight: the court dispensed with prior notice to defendants to prevent them from altering the offending links.
