Influencers can criticise brands factually: Court

Comments by social media influencers against consumer brands, when backed by scientific evidence, does not amount to defamation, ruled the Delhi high court, in a significant decision that laid down the broad contours for the protection of social media influencers locked in legal battles with large companies.

- Shruti Kakkar

Among these, the court allowed influencers to highlight and show brand names — one easy defence for big brands has been trademark infringement — and criticise brands on the basis of scientific tests without fear of defamation. It also allowed the use of satire and hyperbole, ruling these as accepted forms of free speech, which is protected.

The order, by a bench of justice Amit Bansal, came on an interim plea filed by Sans Nutrition Private Limited, a company engaged in business and sale of various nutraceutical and healthcare supplements, suing four influencers, Arpit Mangal, Kabir Grover, Manish Keshwani and Avijit Roy for defamation for publishing allegedly defamatory reviews of its whey protein products.