Baba Ramdev (File photo)

NEW DELHI: In a first of its kind ruling, the Delhi high court has ordered social media giants Facebook , Twitter and Google to immediately remove “on a global basis” content allegedly defamatory to Yoga guru Baba Ramdev .

Justice Pratibha M Singh noted that orders of courts are meant to be “implemented fully and effectively” and asked the platforms to “take down, remove block, restrict/disable access, on a global basis, to all such videos/weblinks/URLs in the list annexed to the plaint, which have been uploaded from IP addresses within India.”

HC’s order came on a plea by Ramdev seeking global restraint order against Facebook, Google, its subsidiary YouTube, and Twitter from carrying content related to a book.

The HC had on September 29, 2018, restrained the publisher and author of the book ‘Godman to Tycoon’ on Ramdev, from publishing it till the offending portions were deleted on the yoga guru’s plea. The defamatory video in question contained excerpts of the book that were ordered to be deleted by the HC in September last year. However, Ramdev complained that despite the order, defamatory content, including the video, continued to be available online.

