Journalist moves P&H High Court against copyright strikes by AAP on his Facebook page for using CM's photos

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Thursday issued notice to Union of India and Meta on an independent journalist's plea challenging the takedown of his Facebook pages due to repeated copyright strikes by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

Justice Jagmohan Bansal also issued notice to the AAP through its State President and the Punjab government.

The case has been listed for hearing on July 27.

Rattandeep Singh Dhaliwal, a journalist based in Punjab, alleged that AAP had resorted to repeated copyright strikes against him as his reporting had caused discomfort to the ruling party. Dhaliwal also alleged that in the past Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann directly targeted him in his speeches.

Dhaliwal's plea stated that his Facebook page with over 3.24 Lakh followers was takedown by Meta citing intellectual property rights claims, some even for merely uploading Mann's pictures.

"It is wholly unreasonable and constitutionally alarming that a routine journalistic reference to a sitting Chief Minister, including use of his publicly available image is treated as proprietary intellectual property. A Chief Minister's public image cannot be converted into private intellectual property to silence reporting," the plea contends.

It argues that such actions from a political party amounts to unconstitutional restriction on freedom of speech and expression. Further, it questions whether an intermediary like Facebook can takedown journalistic content without any reasoned order.

"The effect of such punitive targeting is not limited to the petitioner alone but creates an atmosphere of intimidation where journalists may hesitate to report on governmental shortcomings for fear of digital erasure or coercive consequences," the plea states.

Dhaliwal has sought restoration of his pages and setting aside of all punitive actions taken against him on Facebook.

Senior Advocate RS Bains with Advocates Loveneet Thakur and Sarabjot Singh Cheema represent Dhaliwal.