Mumbai police issue notices to 24 X users over sharing Sabeer Bhatia documentary

Mumbai Police have issued legal notices to at least 24 X account holders for sharing content linked to a documentary by tech entrepreneur Sabeer Bhatia. The notices, issued following a complaint alleging defamatory and misleading content against a prominent business conglomerate, sought removal of the posts.

Mumbai: Mumbai Police have issued legal notices to at least 24 ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) account holders for sharing a documentary made by tech entrepreneur Sabeer Bhatia.

The notices were issued on October 18, days after the documentary about Prime Minister Narendra Modi and industrialist Gautam Adani sparked off a controversy.

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The notice did not mention any person or even explicitly refer to the documentary, but stated that the West Region Cyber Police Station had received a formal complaint alleging that multiple X handles had published highly objectionable content targeting a prominent business conglomerate.

The links mentioned in the notice directed to Bhatia’s X account.

The content allegedly had false, misleading, and disparaging statements and allegations against the company, which were circulated without any factual or lawful basis, causing continuous harm to its reputation, goodwill and public image, the notice said.

The publication of such content violated platform guidelines and constituted offenses punishable under Sections 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 356 (defamation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), it said.

The notice asked the platform and account holders to urgently review the objectionable posts and remove or disable access to the content.

While several account holders complied by deleting the video clips, others publicly shared copies of the police notice on their handles, alleging overreach and terming the action as unjust.