A Judge Has Ordered Facebook to Reveal the Anonymous Instagrammer Who Made #MeToo Allegations Against Artist Subodh Gupta

A judge in India has ordered Facebook to reveal the owner of the
anonymous Instagram account Scene and Herd (@herdsceneand), known for making public
accusations of inappropriate sexual conduct against high-profile
men in the Indian art world.

Judge Rajiv Sahai Endlaw of the high court in Dehli has also
directed Google to take down search results related to the
Instagram account’s allegations of sexual harassment against Indian
artist Subodh Gupta, who has
filed a defamation lawsuit over the accusations seeking damages of
5 million rupees ($70,000).

The sculptor, perhaps Indian’s best-known contemporary artist,
is known for working with kitchen ware and other everyday
objects. After the #MeToo-inspired Instagram account posted in
December that Gupta was a “serial sexual harasser,” he was forced to
step down as guest curator of the Serendipity Arts Festival in Goa,
India. A second allegation against him was published by the account
this past January.

The anonymous accusations, which Gupta has denied vigorously,
were corroborated last
December by art writer Rosalyn D’mello, a former employee
at Nature Morte, the artist’s New Delhi gallery.

"background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);">

“I want to state that the post pertaining to Subodh is not ‘made
up’ or isn’t ‘revenge’ or isn’t ‘attention-seeking,’” she said last
year. “They are true.”

Gupta is also represented by Hauser & Wirth in the US
and Galleria Continua in Italy. None of the galleries have
responded to artnet News’s requests for comment.

Judge Endlaw made his decision based on the fact that no legal
action had been taken against Gupta based on any of the claims,
according to Indian media outlet News18.

“The allegations, as made in the allegedly defamatory contents,
cannot be permitted to be made in [the] public domain/published
without being backed by legal recourse,” Judge Endlaw wrote in
his injunction. The order was made
ex-parte, which means it was granted without comment from the
holder of the Instagram account.

Facebook is ordered to remove the posts about Gupta and identify
the account’s administrator “in a sealed envelope” by the next
court date, which is scheduled for November 18. Judge Endlaw has
also prohibited any additional posts about Gupta from being
published by the account before that date. The court documents
listed 18 news articles about the story that are to be blocked by
Google, including artnet News’s coverage of
the controversy.

The Instagram account has not shared any new allegations since
February 9, although two posts on May 19 and August 29 assured
followers that “we are still listening” and “it might seem quiet,
but do not think for a second that our work is done and we’ve moved
on.”

The post A Judge Has Ordered Facebook to Reveal the
Anonymous Instagrammer Who Made #MeToo Allegations Against Artist
Subodh Gupta appeared first on artnet News.