Nagpur Bench of Bombay High Court has directed Meta Platforms Inc. (the erstwhile Facebook) to stop the use of its online platform for selling banned nylon manja. The court has also asked Meta to provide information on Friday about the steps taken against those who are using the platform to promote and sell the banned nylon manja. n the course of a suo moto public interest litigation addressing the ‘manja’ issue, the division bench, led by Justice Nitin Sambre and Justice Abhay Mantri, expressed concern about the easy access to nylon ‘manja’ on social media platforms.
The court was apprised by Amicus curiae Adv Deven Chavan that the unregulated sale and usage of banned nylon string continued in the city. The online sale of nylon manja has been continuing on platforms such as Facebook and JioMart. In response to this serious revelation, the High Court instructed Facebook to take action against those endorsing such practices. Adv Tejas Karia, representing Facebook from New Delhi in the online hearing, stated that, in line with the directives of the apex court, Facebook cannot take suo moto action action against any individual or company. Therefore, Facebook requires either notification from law enforcement or directives from the court. He further mentioned that if the police authority furnishes URL IDs of nylon promoters or sellers, Facebook will take appropriate action against them.
