YouTuber Mohak Mangal on Thursday told the Delhi High Court that he will edit the video uploaded by him about news wire Asian News International (ANI) and remove objectionable references to agency in the video..This was after ANI sued him in Delhi High Court over his remarks that news agency's copyright strikes on YouTube and demands for licensing fees to use their videos, amounts to extortion.Alt-news co-founder Mohammed Zubair also agreed to take down one of his X posts on the issue. Zubair too was sued by ANI for amplifying the views of Mangal.Zubair's counsel Soutik Banerjee said he had made a civilized comment on the larger issue but was willing to delete it. However, stand-up comic Kunal Kamra only agreed to take down one of his multiple posts on X..Advocate Arun Sri Kumar, representing Kamra, said other tweets by Kamra were covered under the right to free speech and that he was commenting on a matter of larger public interest."There is a larger public interest in understanding how YouTube's policies can be weaponized against content creators. The language may not be palatable to them but is protected by free speech."However, the Court said such language was not palatable to the Court."This kind of language... I am all for free speech [but] calling someone 'thugs' and all, this is not okay. I went to the extent of condoning the use of word 'gatiya' but 'thugs' and 'mafia' is serious," Justice Amit Bansal remarked.The counsel said the medium where it is posted must be considered. However, the Court was not convinced. Ultimately, Kamra agreed to delete the tweet. The Court directed that the tweet shall be taken down within the next 24 hours. Justice Amit Bansal also observed that certain tweets and posts made by unknown users were defamatory and directed 'X' to take them down "In my prima facie view, the aforesaid tweets/posts are disparaging and defamatory in nature and their continued presence would cause immense prejudice and harm to the reputation of the plaintiffs Accordingly, the defendant no.6 is directed to forthwith take down the following tweets/posts made on its platform ‘X," the Court stated. .On Mangal's video, the Court had earlier in the day observed that he could have posted his video in a civilized manner and had asked his counsel to take instructions on taking it down.Senior Advocate Chander Lall and Advocate Nakul Gandhi for Mangal later submitted that he would edit the videoin a private mode to remove the objected portions and republish it on public forum. The Court then went through the suggestions made by Mangal's counsel. .Senior Advocate Amit Sibal, who represented ANI, also went through the suggestions and asked for removal of more portions. Ultimately, the parties reached an agreement on removal of certain portions.The Court has also asked Mangal to place on record the complete audio recording of the telephonic conversation with the ANI representative as referred to in the video.The next date of hearing is on July 21. .Senior Advocate Chander Lall along with advocates Annanya Mehan, Nakul Gandhi, Mujeeb and Tanish Gupta appeared for Mangal.Senior Advocate Amit Sibal with advocates Sidhant Kumar, Akshit Mago, Anshika Saxena, Parth Yadav, Saksham Dhingra, Darpan Sachdeva, Rajat Bector and Ankit Handa appeared for ANI. Advocate Arun Sri Kumar and Ritwik Gupta represented Kamra.Advocate Soutik Banerjee represented Zubair.Advocates Mamta R. Jha, Rohan Ajuja, Shruttima Ehersa, Aiswarya Debadarshini and Rahul K. Choudhary appeared for Google.[Read order]
