Google and Microsoft prevent non-consensual picture removal

A Delhi High Court ruling mandating the proactive removal of non-consensual intimate photographs without specific URLs was appealed by Microsoft and Google. They contended that the task is beyond current legal norms and is not technically practicable. The tech behemoths disputed the feasibility and technological readiness of the court's earlier threat to revoke liability protections for noncompliance.

During proceedings before a division bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora, Microsoft stated that complying with the single-judge’s directions is not feasible due to technological limitations and that the directives go beyond established legal boundaries.

The appeals by Microsoft and Google challenge a judgement delivered by Justice Subramonium Prasad on April 26. The appeal was first filed by Microsoft and later Google also filed a similar appeal, which is scheduled for consideration on May 9.

Justice Prasad had cautioned social media intermediaries that they risk losing their liability protection if they fail to adhere to the timeframe specified under the Information Technology Rules for removing non-consensual intimate content.

He had said that search engines possess the necessary technology to remove NCII content without requiring victims to repeatedly seek the court's intervention, and cannot claim helplessness in removing or disabling access to links containing illegal content.

Representing Microsoft, senior advocate Jayant Mehta argued that the single judge's reliance on Meta's tool for content removal is misplaced, as Bing, Microsoft's search engine, does not host any content. He contended that complying with the court's order to proactively search for and remove such content throughout the database is not feasible given current technology limitations.

Mehta also pointed out the impracticality of deploying Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools to execute the directives, as AI would struggle to differentiate between consensual and non-consensual images.