Mumbai: Galactus Funware Technology, the parent company of online gaming platform MPL (Mobile Premier League), has issued a legal notice to the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), demanding the immediate withdrawal of a whitepaper titled 'Examining Opinion Trading in India' and seeking ₹50 crore in damages for alleged defamation and loss of goodwill.The legal notice, dated May 23, 2025, sent through their legal counsel Trilegal, accuses ASCI of publishing a "biased and unsubstantiated" whitepaper that relies on "tampered" versions of MPL's advertisements and misrepresents their content to mislead consumers.Edited screenshotsGalactus Funware claims that the ASCI whitepaper, published in May 2025, deliberately edited screenshots of their advertisements to support a "baseless conclusion" that opinion trading involves an "element of risk" and "chances of financial losses".The notice highlights specific instances of alleged tampering, citing that ASCI allegedly removed disclaimers present in the original advertisement, thereby misrepresenting its compliance with advertising codes.The company states that a screenshot from an educational YouTube video, emphasising 'Skill, Interest, Knowledge', was taken out of context and selectively edited to imply risk, despite the video's focus on skill development. The legal notice states that the white paper's "sensationalist tone reeks of vested interests and a blatant disregard for objectivity".The advertising self-regulatory body, ASCI told ET that they were in receipt of the notice, but a spokesperson denied any wrongdoing. "We are in receipt of the notice and there is absolutely no question of tampering," the regulator said, in response to a query from ET.Mandate questionedGalactus Funware also challenged ASCI's authority to publish such a whitepaper. They argue that ASCI's charter, the Code for Self-Regulation in Advertising, does not provide for commenting on the nature or legality of any industry's operations. Copies of the legal notice have also been sent to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the All India Gaming Federation. When ET reached out to MPL for their response, a spokesperson declined to comment.
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