Twitter moves HC over govt's 'arbitrary' orders

New Delhi, July 5

Twitter has moved the Karnataka High Court against the Indian government's order to take down some content on its platform, on the grounds that the content blocking orders from the IT Ministry do not pass “the test of the grounds provided under Section 69A of the IT Act”, reliable sources said on Tuesday.

The warning

In a June letter, the IT Ministry had warned Twitter of strict action if it does not comply with some content take down orders.

Twitter in its writ petition alleged that multiple accounts and content included in the blocking orders are either “overbroad and arbitrary”, fail to provide notice to the “originators” of the content, and are “disproportionate” in several cases, sources said.

It alleged that several blocking orders that were issued to Twitter only “cite” the grounds of Section 69A, but fail to demonstrate how the content falls within those grounds or how the said content is “violative”, sources said, adding Twitter has now sought judicial review of some of the content that forms a part of various blocking orders, requesting relief from the court to set aside these orders. The IT Ministry was yet to react to Twitter's move. According to the writ petition, account-level blocking is a “principally disproportionate measure” and “violates rights of users under the constitution, especially when the reasons stated to block URLs and reasons stated to block an account lack specificity and merely cite grounds under Section 69A”. — IANS

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