The High Court of the Indian State of Madhya Pradesh has stopped live-streaming hearings to protect local lawyers from ridicule on social media.

Madhya Pradesh is home to over 70 million people and is one of India’s better-developed and wealthier states. The state judiciary streamed many criminal cases live online, but a chap named Arihant Tiwari found the practice odious because, as explained in a court notice [PDF], he felt the streams were “misused by several private entities in creating reals, clips and memes, which are derogatory and wrongfully portray the legal fraternity.”

Tiwari pointed to precedents that prevent courts from streaming proceedings on YouTube, Twitter, and other social media services.

The court hasn’t reached a final decision but did order its Registry to stop liv

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