Bengaluru court orders X, Google, Meta to block defamatory content against Pawan Kalyan

A Bengaluru civil court has directed social media platforms X Corp (formerly Twitter), Google LLC and Meta to block allegedly defamatory content about Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister and Janasena Party president Konidala Pawan Kalyan.

The order was passed on June 11 by XVI Additional City Civil and Sessions Judge Mohammed Moinuddin. The court directed the social media platforms and all persons acting through them not to publish, republish, broadcast, transmit, upload or display statements, articles, allegations or videos flagged as defamatory to Kalyan.

"Defendant No.1 to 3 and all persons claiming through them including their servants, agents are hereby directed not to publish, republish, broadcast, transmit, upload or display any statement, article or allegations, videos against the Plaintiff in any manner in the impugned content sources described in the schedule A to the plaint till next date of hearing," the order states.

The order was passed on a suit filed by Kalyan against X Corp, Google LLC, Meta and Ashok Kumar (John Doe/ unknown persons). The suit was filed amid reports of a social media backlash against Kalyan amid allegations of lake land encroachment in Janwada, Telangana.

Senior Counsel Dr Arun Shyam M appeared for Kalyan before the trial court. On June 10, the Court granted an ad interim injunction in Kalyan's favour to restrain the defendants from publishing, republishing, broadcasting, transmitting, streaming, hosting, uploading or communicating defamatory content concerning Kalyan.

Subsequently, Kalyan sought a modification of the interim order to expressly include certain URLs and links hosting defamatory content.

The court noted that the flagged content comprised articles, statements and videos containing various allegations, including allegations relating to encroachment of public land or water bodies by Pawan Kalyan.

The court observed that a modification of the earlier order was necessary to give effective meaning to the injunction granted on June 10.

Accordingly, the court partially modified its earlier order and extended the injunction to cover the specific URLs and online links identified by Kalyan.

The matter is scheduled for further hearing on July 24, 2026.