A Bengaluru civil court has issued a directive to major social media platforms, including X Corp (formerly known as Twitter), Google LLC, and Meta, to block content alleged to be defamatory towards Konidala Pawan Kalyan. The order, delivered by XVI Additional City Civil and Sessions Judge Mohammed Moinuddin on June 11, seeks to curb the spread of potentially damaging information about the Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister and the leader of the Janasena Party.
The court’s decision mandates that the aforementioned platforms, along with any associated parties, refrain from publishing, republishing, broadcasting, or displaying any statements, articles, allegations, or videos identified as defamatory to Kalyan. According to the court order, “Defendant No.1 to 3 and all persons claiming through them including their servants, agents are hereby directed not to publish, republish, broadcast, transmit, upload or display any statement, article or allegations, videos against the Plaintiff in any manner in the impugned content sources described in the schedule A to the plaint till next date of hearing.”
The legal action was initiated by Kalyan in response to a surge of negative social media activity, following accusations of land encroachment in Janwada, Telangana. Represented by Senior Counsel Dr. Arun Shyam M, Kalyan secured an ad interim injunction on June 10, restricting the defendants from disseminating defamatory content related to him.
In a subsequent move, Kalyan requested a modification of the interim order to specifically target certain URLs and links hosting defamatory material. The court recognized that the contested content included articles, statements, and videos that contained allegations such as encroachment on public or water lands by Pawan Kalyan. To ensure the injunction’s effectiveness, the court decided to extend its reach to include specific URLs and online links identified by Kalyan.
This extension of the initial order reflects the court’s commitment to address the complexities of online defamation. The matter has been scheduled for a further hearing on July 24, 2026, allowing for continued judicial scrutiny of the case.
