Impossible to monitor, remove unauthorised court recordings proactively from YouTube, Google tells Delhi HC

Google has told the Delhi High Court that it is not possible for the company to proactively monitor or prevent unauthorised recordings of court proceedings from being uploaded on YouTube, Bar & Bench has reported.In an affidavit filed before the Court, Google argued that directing social media platforms to prevent the recurrence or re-upload of such recordings is both legally untenable and technically impossible.As per Bar & Bench, the company said recordings are created outside YouTube and it has no way of determining whether a video contains court proceedings, whether the recording was authorised or whether it violates any law, particularly since rules governing court recordings vary across jurisdictions in India.Google submitted that it is only required to remove videos that have been specifically identified through their URLs after a competent court has adjudicated them to be unlawful. It added that it cannot sift through millions of videos on the platform to identify other potentially unauthorised recordings of court proceedings.The company further contended that Indian law does not require intermediaries to actively monitor user-generated content or act as arbiters of disputes over third-party material. Instead, it said the legality of content must be determined by a competent court before takedown obligations arise.The affidavit was filed in response to a petition by advocate Vaibhav Singh, who sought action against individuals who uploaded videos of Arvind Kejriwal addressing the court of Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma during proceedings in the excise policy case. According to Bar & Bench, the petition also seeks directions to social media platforms to prevent unauthorised recordings of court proceedings from resurfacing online.The Delhi High Court had observed in April that the issue concerns the larger institutional interests of the judiciary and that unauthorised recordings of court proceedings need to be controlled.Google also informed the Court that the YouTube videos identified by the petitioner have already been removed or blocked in India.