Hateful Content Against Rohingya Refugees: Delhi High Court Reserves Order On PIL Against Facebook (Photo by Joshua Hoehne on Unsplash)

The Delhi High Court has reportedly reserved an order on a PIL filed by Rohingya refugees seeking directions to the central government and Facebook to stop hateful content against the Rohingya community. The Division Bench remarked that it is a fact that there is a lot of abuse on social media, reported Bar and Bench.

The plea has been moved by Mohammad Hamim and Kawsar Mohammed, two Rohingya refugees. According to the Bar and Bench report, Mohammad Hamim and Kawsar Mohammed fled Myanmar and reached India in July 2018 and March 2022, respectively. In the plea, petitioners reportedly said that Facebook played a major role in the Rohingya genocide in Myanmar. Petitioners also added that now the social media platform is being used to incite hatred against them in India.

The Division Bench, comprising Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora, reserved its verdict, saying it will pass a detailed order on the matter. “Please understand where you are heading with this… If you are saying that State can do censorship then you will have to give them all the power and they will love it. the court said, as quoted by Bar and Bench. “Hate speech must be curtailed but we are exploring whether we should give the power to the Union of India to do this censorship,” the court added.

As per the report, the Delhi High Court also orally hinted that it may ask the petitioners to first approach Facebook with their grievance. The petitioners also stated in their plea that harmful posts originating in the country targeting Rohingya refugees are widespread on Facebook. The plea also stressed that Facebook algorithms promote such content. The plea also seeks a direction on Facebook to suspend various accounts circulating hateful content. The petitioners were represented by Senior Advocate Colin Gonsalves. Meanwhile, senior advocate Arvind P Datar appeared for Facebook.