Delhi High Court asks social media influencer to take down videos against Complan

The court observed that Prashant Desai, who has about one million followers on Instagram, spoke on the “chemistry” behind Complan even though he is ‘neither a doctor nor a nutritionist’

The Delhi High Court has ordered the removal of a video “disparaging” the nutritional drink Complan, noting that social media influencers cannot irresponsibly comment on subjects outside their expertise.

Justice Saurabh Banerjee observed that Prashant Desai, who has about one million followers on Instagram and over 60,000 followers on Facebook, spoke on the “chemistry” behind Complan despite being “neither a doctor nor a nutritionist nor a dietician” nor anyone connected with the health industry.

“Interestingly, as per the ASCI (Advertising Standards Council of India) guidelines, for the posts related to health and nutrition, a Social Media Influencer must have relevant qualifications such as a medical degree, or be a certified nurse, nutritionist, dietician, physiotherapist, psychologist, etc.,” the court noted adding that Mr. Desai does not possess anything of that kind.

The court, in its September 26 judgment, also restrained the content creator from publishing any matter which denigrates the product and asked him to remove the existing video from all his social media handles within a period of two weeks.

In the video, Mr. Desai claimed that Complan, as well as certain other similar products, contain sugar in excess of the daily requirement in children.

Zydus Wellness Products Ltd, in its lawsuit, argued that the video made false as well as unsubstantiated claims and, therefore, sought directions to restrain Mr. Desai from infringing upon its trademark and disparaging Complan and Complan Pista Badam.

The court said even though Mr. Desai is “neither a competitor nor a qualified doctor/ nutritionist/ dietician, however, he has openly named, identified and criticised the plaintiff’s product ‘Complan’ by starting the impugned video on a purely negative note by making unsubstantive and false statements therein. The contents/ statements therein are not backed by any substantive basis”.

“Merely being a ‘social media influencer’, the defendant is not bestowed with the independence to speak and/ or comment about a subject of which he is not the master,” the court remarked.

“In fact, a ‘social media influencer’ like the defendant is always expected not to cross over and try to play the role of a professional or try to fall in/ step into the shoes of a teacher or any other professional or act like a preacher, more so without any backing to substantiate what is being talked/ shared,” the court stated.

Published - September 28, 2024 08:33 am IST