Indian court orders YouTube to remove fake news on Bachchan grandchild

Actor Abhishek Bachchan, his wife actress Aishwarya Rai and their daughter Aaradhya pose during a photo opportunity at the wedding ceremony of Akash Ambani, son of the Chairman of Reliance Industries Mukesh Ambani, at Bandra-Kurla Complex in Mumbai, India, March 9, 2019. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas/File Photo

The Delhi High Court on Thursday ordered YouTube to remove fake news videos about the grand-daughter of Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan, in response to her petition to stop circulation of false rumours about her health, lawyers said.

Judge C. Hari Shankar ordered YouTube to ensure the videos about Aaradhya Bachchan, 11, were taken down immediately.

"Dissemination of misleading information about a child, especially as regards physical and mental health, is completely intolerable under the law," the court said in its order.

Three lawyers representing Aaradhya said in a statement that it was a landmark judgment as the court has upheld the privacy of a child.

"Videos are false, fake, defamatory, and uploaded with the intent of gaining eyeballs...and subscription to the channel," said Dayan Krishnan, one of the three lawyers.

Aaradhya is the daughter of actors Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and is frequently photographed accompanying them at public events.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is a former Miss World and a brand ambassador for L'Oreal OREP.PA.

India has thousands of YouTube channels that tap into the growing demand for videos about celebrities. Often, the content can be controversial or factually incorrect.

An official spokesperson for YouTube owner Google GOOGL.O declined to comment.

The federal government has been seeking ways to tighten tech sector regulation and wants companies to do more on content moderation on social media platforms.