Kerala HC Orders Meta and Google to Preserve MLA's Facebook and YouTube Content in Election Corrupt-Practices Petition

Justice Harisankar V. Menon directed Meta Platforms and Google LLC to preserve digital content from specific Facebook pages and a YouTube channel pending an election petition alleging corrupt practices under the Representation of the People Act, 1957.

The Kerala High Court on 9 September 2026 admitted Election Petition No. 6 of 2026, filed by C.H. Rasheed against N.K. Akbar and others, and simultaneously granted interim directions in the interlocutory application accompanying the petition. Justice Harisankar V. Menon, sitting singly, ordered Meta Platforms Inc. and Google LLC — including their Indian entities and grievance officers — to preserve a wide range of electronically stored information from identified Facebook pages and a YouTube channel. The petition alleges the commission of corrupt practices by N.K. Akbar, described as an MLA, under Sections 123(3A) and 123(4) of the Representation of the People Act, 1957, through the publication of pamphlets and videos on Google and Facebook. The preservation order is to operate till further orders of the court.

The Corrupt-Practices Allegations in the Election Petition

The election petition, presented by C.H. Rasheed, attributes corrupt practices to the first respondent N.K. Akbar in the context of what the petition describes as the publication of various materials — pamphlets and videos — through public portals including Google and Facebook.

The two provisions invoked are Section 123(3A) and Section 123(4) of the Representation of the People Act, 1957. Section 123(3A) concerns the promotion of, or attempts to promote, feelings of enmity or hatred between different classes of citizens on grounds of religion, race, caste, community, or language. Section 123(4) addresses the publication of false statements of fact in relation to a candidate's personal character or conduct.

The petition points to specific online material published during the period from 16 March 2026 to 4 May 2026 as the basis for these allegations.

What the Interlocutory Application Sought

The interlocutory application, I.A. No. 1 of 2026, was filed by the petitioner seeking directions against five named respondents: the Grievance Officer of Meta Platforms Inc. at Gurugram, Meta Platforms Inc. itself at Menlo Park California, the Resident Grievance Officer for YouTube at Google LLC’s India liaison office in New Delhi, Google India Private Limited at Bengaluru, and Google LLC at Mountain View California.

The relief sought was the preservation of contents and information from three specific Facebook accounts and pages, and from a YouTube channel. The categories of information the petitioner sought to preserve were extensive: original uploaded images, original uploaded videos, upload logs, account and page activity records, edit history, deletion history, page administrator records, timestamps, metadata, audit logs, server records, content identifiers, engagement statistics, comments, reactions, shares, and all other back-end data.

The Facebook assets identified were: the Facebook page of the first respondent N.K. Akbar under the name “NK Akbar MLA” at the URL facebook.com/nkakbarmla; a Facebook account under the name “Sumesh C” belonging to one Sri. C. Sumesh, along with a specific post from that account; and a Facebook page called “CPIM Chavakkad AC,” along with a specific post from that page. All three were sought to be preserved for the period from 16 March 2026 to 4 May 2026.

The YouTube material identified was a video on the channel bearing the name “@VikasanaRekha26,” accessible through a specific YouTube Shorts URL, and described in the application as displayed on scanning a QR code printed alongside a Malayalam caption in Annexure-C to the petition.

The Court's Prima Facie View

Senior Counsel Sri. S. Sreekumar, represented by Sri. Ajay Ben Jose, appeared for the petitioner and was heard on the interlocutory application. No counsel for the respondents is recorded as appearing at this stage.

Justice Harisankar V. Menon, after considering the averments in the election petition and the accompanying affidavit, recorded that a prima facie case for the grant of interim directions had been made out. The court did not elaborate on the specific factual basis for that prima facie satisfaction in this order, but granted the preservation direction as sought.

The rationale implicit in the direction is practical: digital content — particularly posts, videos, and associated metadata on social media platforms — is susceptible to deletion, editing, or alteration. A preservation order at the threshold stage of an election petition ensures that the evidentiary foundation alleged by the petitioner is not lost before the matter can be heard on merits.

The court also clarified the mode of compliance, stating that the petitioner would be entitled to communicate the order to the platform entities through e-mail for compliance purposes. This reflects the cross-jurisdictional nature of the respondent companies, with parent entities seated in the United States and grievance officers designated in India under domestic intermediary rules.

Scope of the Preservation Direction

The preservation direction issued by Justice Menon covers both the Facebook-related material and the YouTube material described in the interlocutory application. The direction runs against the Grievance Officer of Meta Platforms Inc., Meta Platforms Inc. itself through its authorised officer, the Resident Grievance Officer for YouTube, Google India Private Limited as the authorised representative of Google LLC in India, and Google LLC as the parent entity of YouTube through its authorised officer.

All named entities are directed to preserve the contents and information with respect to the uploaded videos and other material referred to in the application, and the direction is to operate till further orders of the court.

The petition itself was admitted and notice was issued by speed post to the respondents. The matter has been posted for 23 October 2026.

Order

Justice Harisankar V. Menon admitted Election Petition No. 6 of 2026, directed issue of notice by speed post to the respondents, and posted the matter to 23 October 2026. On I.A. No. 1 of 2026, the court directed Meta Platforms Inc., its Grievance Officer, Google India Private Limited, Google LLC, and the Resident Grievance Officer for YouTube to preserve all contents, information, and back-end data of the identified Facebook pages and the identified YouTube channel until further orders. The petitioner is permitted to communicate the order to those parties by e-mail for compliance.