Twitter loses case against Centre’s blocking order, High Court imposes ‘exemplary cost of Rs 50 lakh’

Karnataka ,June 30: The Karnataka High court on Friday dismissed Twitter’s plea against the Centre’s orders to block certain social media accounts and tweets. The high court imposed a fine of Rs 50 lakh on the company for non-compliance with the Indian government’s orders.

Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that the court had upheld the government’s stand on the matter, adding that “the law of the land must be followed.”

Last year, Twitter had challenged the orders issued to it by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeiTY) under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act.

The Centre had asked Twitter to block several social media accounts and tweets between February 2021 and February 2022. Out of these, Twitter had challenged 39 blocking orders.

In 2022, Twitter approached the Karnataka High Court challenging the Centre’s order to take down content from its platform under the new Information Technology (IT) rules.

During the plea hearings in 2022, Twitter told the high court that an order issued by the Centre to block an account should list the reasons for the same. It also insisted on a norm to be put in place so that, if needed, the order (issued under section 69A of the IT Act, 2000) can be challenged.

Centre’s order to block account must contain reasons: Twitter to Karnataka HC

Meanwhile, the Centre had told the high court that Twitter had been a “habitual non-compliant platform for several years.”

The Indian government said that about 50 meetings were held between the government and Twitter representatives before the blocking orders were issued.

The Centre had also told the court that “there was a clear intention of Twitter to not comply with the laws of the land”.

-The India Today