Vicarious Liability: Whats App
The Kerala High Court on February 23 said admins of WhatsApp groups are not liable for objectionable posts made by group members.
- The court examined whether the admin, the petitioner in the case, has vicarious liability or can be held liable for the act of the social media group member.
- Vicarious liability is a situation in which one party is held partly responsible for the unlawful actions of a third party.
- The third party also carries their own share of the liability.
- Vicarious liability can arise in situations where one party is supposed to be responsible for (and have control over) a third party and is negligent in carrying out that responsibility and exercising that control.
- Such a liability arises usually because of some or the other legal relationship between the two.
- This often occurs in the context of civil law—for example, in employment cases.
- In a criminal context, vicarious liability assigns guilt, or criminal liability, to a person for wrongful acts committed by someone else.
