Gurugram court summons Chinese company Alibaba over charges of fake news

New Delhi: Indian court has issued summons to the leading Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba and its founder Jack Ma. This summons has been issued as the company wrongly terminated an Indian employee. The ex-employee said that the company fired him for objecting to content censorship and peddling of fake news. Action against this company will majorly jolt China.

Two weeks ago, India had declared a ban on 59 Chinese apps. These apps include UC Browser and UC News owned by Alibaba company. As India banned the apps, Alibaba started to wrap its business in the country. But, the court issued summons to the company after an ex-employee filed a complaint. He said the company spreads fake news through its app and censors content that is against China. Moreover, former employee Pushpendra Singh Parmar said that he was terminated for objecting these issues.

Moreover, on 20 July, Parmar filed a petition against the company in Gurugram district court. The company uses sensitive terms to censor information about China. Besides, the UC Browser and UC News apps publish and spread fake news to create political and social instability, mentions the petition.

Following this, the Gurugram District Civil Court Judge, Ms Sonia Sheokand, issued summons to Jack Ma and his company. Moreover, she has demanded a written response within 30 days.

Until October 2017, Pushpendra Singh Parmar worked with the UC Web Gurugram office as the Associate Director. He has demanded compensation worth $2,38,000 from the company. In its statement, the UC India company mentioned that its policies comply with local laws, given its unwavering in its commitment to the Indian market and the welfare of its local employees. However, the company has not yet responded to the summons by the court.

India is heavily retaliating against China on an economic level after its soldiers dreadfully attacked the Indian Army at Galwan Valley, Ladakh. Furthermore, the Indian government is framing strong policies to ban the import of Chinese energy appliances and Chinese investment in the MSME sector. Besides, the government is also reviewing the 50 Chinese investment proposals. BSNL and MTNL have decided not to purchase any Chinese appliances. Moreover, China is also being expelled from the upcoming project of 5G services.

Alongside Alibaba, some other Chinese companies have also invested in India. However, the Indian intelligence had reported of these companies being linked directly or otherwise with the Chinese Army. Against this background, Alibaba has been accused of spreading fake news.