Why in the News?
Yoga guru Ramdev approached the Delhi High Court seeking protection of his personality rights against parody accounts, memes and alleged unauthorised digital identities on social media platforms. The Court orally observed that public figures cannot be overly sensitive to satire or commentary.
What are Personality Rights?
- Personality rights refer to a person’s right to:
- Protect their name, image, voice, likeness and identity
- Prevent unauthorised commercial use
- Stop misrepresentation or false endorsement
- In India, personality rights are not codified in a single statute but are derived from:
- Article 21 of the Constitution, Right to life and personal liberty
- Law of torts
- Passing off under trademark law
Issues Raised in the Case
-
Objection by Petitioner
- Parody accounts allegedly using his identity
- Meme based political commentary
- Digital identities created without consent
- Alleged monetisation and product endorsement
-
Stand of Social Media Platforms
-
- Satire, political commentary and fair comment must be protected
- Not all parody violates personality rights
- Some accounts already suspended or modified
| [2024] Under which of the following Articles of the Constitution of India, has the Supreme Court of India placed the Right to Privacy?
(a) Article 15 (b) Article 16 (c) Article 19 (d) Article 21 |
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