ADMIN OF A WHATSAPP GROUP CANNOT BE HELD LIABLE FOR MEMBER'S POSTS - MADRAS HC

The Madras High Court bench reasserted that in the absence of a specific penal provision of vicarious liability, an admin of a WhatsApp group cannot be held liable for offensive content posted by the group members.

The HC was hearing a plea seeking to quash an FIR filed against the group's admin in which the members shared highly offensive posts/messages.  

The petitioner submitted that he was only a group administrator and could not be held responsible for messages posted by others on the group.

The complainant argued a conspiracy between the member and the admin since he was removed from the group but added back within a few days.

However, the Court found the Additional Public Prosecutor's submission premature, stating that the forensic report which would help conclude who posted the objectionable messages was still awaited. Justice GR Swaminathan cited Bombay HC's judgment in Kishore v. State Maharashtra - an admin of a WhatsApp group should be removed from the list of accused if he is not found playing any role in regards to the offensive messages posted by the members. The Bombay HC also emphasized that an admin has limited power to either remove or add a member to the group. Once the group is created, the admin has no power over anything. A creator of a WhatsApp group cannot be expected to have prior knowledge of the members' criminal acts.

Author: Papiha Ghoshal