Delhi High Court to examine social-media account suspensions over copyright strikes

The Delhi High Court will examine whether social-media platforms can suspend or delete accounts solely on the basis of copyright strikes, after Instagram restored content creator Saurabh Maurya’s account.

Maurya told the court that third parties had uploaded his videos elsewhere, altered the dates attached to those uploads and then issued copyright strikes claiming ownership. Meta suspended his Instagram account following those claims, despite his assertion that he had created the videos.

During the hearing, Meta said it had found the strikes to be fake. The company reversed them and restored Maurya’s account. His counsel argued that reinstatement did not settle the broader issue: how platforms assess copyright complaints before acting against an account.

Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani asked the parties to address whether suspending or deleting accounts through this mechanism is consistent with principles set out by the Supreme Court in *Shreya Singhal v. Union of India* and by the Delhi High Court in *Myspace Inc. v. Super Cassettes Industries Ltd.*

The defendants have been directed to address the issue in their replies. The matter is listed for September 24.