Madras HC orders urgent action to remove non-consensual private videos of woman advocate

Chennai: In a deeply emotional and strongly worded order, the Madras High Court on Wednesday directed the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to take urgent steps to detect, remove, and block the circulation of private images and videos of a woman advocate, which were recorded without her consent and widely shared online.

Justice N. Anand Venkatesh instructed the Centre to act within 48 hours and submit a compliance report by July 14. The judge observed that the woman was enduring severe mental trauma as the intimate images and videos continued to surface across pornographic websites, private messaging platforms, and social media despite her efforts to have them taken down.

“This must stop. The dignity of every individual must be upheld,” the judge remarked emotionally during the hearing, even pausing as his voice choked and his eyes welled up.

“I was just thinking – what if this woman lawyer had been my daughter?” he said.

The case stems from a petition filed by the woman advocate, who narrated in her affidavit that she had fallen in love with a man during her college days. Trusting him, she spent private moments with him under the promise of marriage, unaware that he was secretly recording their interactions on his mobile phone.

The situation came to light only after the videos were leaked online and widely circulated. She lodged a police complaint on April 1 against the man and a WhatsApp group administrator involved in sharing the videos.

She later approached MeitY on June 18, urging it to direct all intermediaries — including websites, telecom providers, and pornographic platforms — to use advanced technologies like hash matching, PhotoDNA, and AI-based content detection tools to take down the offensive content. However, no action was taken, prompting her to move to the High Court.

Senior counsel Abudu Kumar Rajarathinam, appearing for the petitioner, criticised the Ministry’s inaction, pointing out that even past court orders in similar cases, such as one passed by Justice Subramonium Prasad of the Delhi High Court in April 2023, had failed to instil urgency within the Ministry.

“We have created Frankenstein-like monsters in the form of the internet and social media without first putting safeguards in place for women,” he argued.

The counsel also urged the Court to direct the Tamil Nadu police to work in close coordination with MeitY for the immediate removal of such content upon registration of a complaint.

In response, Justice Venkatesh took a proactive stance, issuing suo motu directions to include the Director General of Police/Head of the Police Force as a respondent to the petition.

The judge emphasised the duty of the State and the constitutional courts to protect the fundamental right to dignity, particularly of women who often face stigma, harassment, and secondary victimisation after such incidents.

Justice Venkatesh added that the woman’s profession as a lawyer gave her a support system and courage to fight back, but questioned what becomes of countless other victims who suffer in silence, without legal knowledge or access to institutional support.

“Fortunately, she is in this profession and has all of us here. What happens to the silent sufferers who cannot gather the courage to fight?” he asked.

The judge also expressed his wish to meet the petitioner privately in his chambers to offer her words of encouragement, adding, “I have to prepare myself and make sure I do not break down during the interaction with her.”

The High Court kept the writ petition pending, stating that further directions would be issued to all stakeholders to ensure systemic measures are put in place to prevent such digital abuse in the future.

IANS