LinkedIn flagged this post as defamatory and removed it from his account. Several other posts criticizing Byju’s were also deleted, and eventually, on July 14, 2020, his LinkedIn account was permanently suspended.
Bombay: The Bombay High Court has taken up a case involving Dr. Aniruddha Malpani, a Mumbai-based doctor and investor, whose LinkedIn account was permanently suspended after he posted critical comments about the ed-tech company Byju’s.
On Friday, a bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Neela Gokhale issued a notice and sought responses from the Grievance Appellate Committee (GAC) of the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and LinkedIn.
The High Court questioned the GAC about its refusal to consider Dr. Malpani’s appeal against the account suspension. The bench asked,
“Tell us, whether you would reconsider their appeal.”
Background of the Dispute
The issue started in 2020 when Dr. Malpani’s LinkedIn account was restricted after he posted critical remarks about Byju’s. One of his posts stated:
“Why are Byju’s hiring standards so low? And why don’t they train their salesmen how to write properly?Many Byju’s salesmen rise to the defense of their company when I expose the truth behind their shady sales practices. However, their ability to communicate is appalling.Illiterate salesmen create a bad impression or I guess since they only need to sell to poorly informed, poorly educated middle-class parents, Byju’s doesn’t want to waste time and money on training them.”
LinkedIn flagged this post as defamatory and removed it from his account. Several other posts criticizing Byju’s were also deleted, and eventually, on July 14, 2020, his LinkedIn account was permanently suspended.
Dr. Malpani followed the official complaint process and approached LinkedIn’s Grievance Officer. He was informed that his issue would be resolved within a month. However, on August 5, 2024, the Grievance Officer rejected his complaint.
Determined to fight the decision, he appealed to the GAC in September 2024. But on October 9, 2024, the GAC rejected his appeal, stating that he had missed the 30-day deadline from the date of the Grievance Officer’s decision.
Dr. Malpani, represented by Advocates Yadunath Bhargavan and Hetvi Savla, has argued in court that the rules governing the appeal process do not impose a strict deadline and should allow some flexibility. He contends that his appeal should not have been dismissed simply because it was filed late.
Additionally, he pointed out that he had medical reasons for the delay and requested that the court excuse the late submission.
He further raised concerns about the fairness of LinkedIn’s moderation system. His petition states that the platform acted as a “super censor” by unfairly suppressing criticism of Byju’s and limiting free speech.
Dr. Malpani also highlighted that LinkedIn flagged his posts as defamatory without giving him a fair chance to challenge the decision.
Byju’s, once India’s most valuable ed-tech company, is currently facing insolvency proceedings. The company defaulted on a Rs. 158 crore payment to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in June 2024. Founder Byju Raveendran had temporarily regained control of the company after a settlement with BCCI. However, Glas Trust, a key creditor, challenged this settlement in the Supreme Court.
On October 23, 2024, the Supreme Court quashed the deal, citing procedural issues.
