Supreme Court directs MeitY to curb commercial use of live court feeds

UPDATE - follow-up to Supreme Court asks Centre to take measures against online misuse of court feeds: The Supreme Court on Oct 30 ordered the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to draft rules stopping commercial use of live‑streamed court proceedings. A bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant recorded Solicitor General Tushar Mehta saying suggestions from several high courts and other stakeholders have already been sent to the ministry. Mehta added that the ministry will study the inputs and reply within a few days, and he asked for the matter to be listed after the Deepavali break. He also pointed out breaches of earlier directives and asked the court to order removal of any material posted in violation. The court had earlier barred unauthorised sharing of live judicial videos on social media, stating that content meant for public benefit cannot be sold for profit. It noted that future policies will include penalties for non‑compliance. Advocate Prashant Bhushan proposed that every official clip carry a digital signature or watermark so users can verify authenticity, and that all proceedings be posted in a water‑marked form on the Supreme Court website. The court is reviewing these proposals as misuse of video clips, often with false captions, continues to grow.

Context

Live streaming of court hearings was introduced to increase transparency, but unchecked sharing has led to commercial exploitation and misinformation, prompting the court’s recent intervention.